Digging up the Past
by Knighthawk993
Summary: Whilst looking for a Mayan artefact, Lara Croft encounters an unsavoury group and has to gather help from someone she would rather avoid…Tony Stark. But every cloud has a sliver Lining. It has been tweaked slightly since I posted it so I updated the chapters.
1. Chapter 1

**Fancy seeing you here xD. This story is set during Agents of SHIELD season 2 but after Underworld and both of the Avengers film. Please review and tell me what you think of it and feel free to point out any grammar or spelling issues.**

**If you have read this before it has now had some tweaks I.E Jarvis is now Friday.**

**I own nothing, if I did I'd have a pool full of smarties!**

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**Another Typical Day.**

The afternoon sun was filtering through the thin stone cracks in the ceiling, lighting the faded jade statues beneath. The ancient Mayan hall was decorated with worn golden chains that hung from the ceiling, carrying intricate chandeliers with well-used candles that appeared not to have been lit for centuries. In each of the corners of the hall there were shallow pools of crystal clear water adorned with teal mosaic tilling.

The pool of water in the far left corner of the massive Mayan hall began to ripple, then to circle as it was drained away showing a hidden path and making way for a young woman to emerge.

She was wearing a tight dark green tank top, that stopped just above her belly button, and short deep grey shorts. Her chocolate hair was tied neatly in a long plait, dripping with water, whilst resting on her black leather backpack. As she climbed out of hole left by the water, she shook her hands dry and reached into her bag pulling out a deep red journal that looked like it had seen better days.

"_Hmm, the Mayan's always did like to make it difficult."_

Lara Croft put the journal back in her backpack and continued to tentatively walk further into the hall, smiling to herself as she took in her surroundings. She kept glancing at the statues in both intrigue and cautiousness as she was far too experienced to be caught in a simple dart trap.

As she approached the elaborately carved centre pedestal some of the ceiling behind her began to crumble making Lara even more cautious. The underground temple was evidently unstable.

_Better do this quick then. _She thought as small stones splintered when they hit the floor.

Her caution soon turned to anger and annoyance when she saw her illustrious prize missing, in it's place instead was a note written in a all too familiar hand.

"_Pipped you to the post again Sweetie, H." _With a small annoyed smile she slightly shook her head, scrunched up the note and threw it to the side. "_Damn you." _

The ceiling began to decay again but this time it was different. Lara could hear the unmistakable sound of a helicopter above ground. Given her previous experience, Lara knew very well that the chopper probably wasn't full of girl scouts who were there to sell her cookies as she was busy raiding a tomb.

She only just got into the shadows when the ceiling exploded letting mass amounts of light and dust in. Men clad in black repelled in the hole that had just caved in. The unidentified men took up positions surrounding the pedestal, scanning the area through their weapons sights, as another person repelled in.

Judging by the outfit alone Lara figured that this final man must be the leader of the group. She silently climbed the statue she was hiding behind to get a better look at the leader whilst remaining in the shadows.

He was dressed entirely in black just like the others. However his hat was that of an officer with his medals tacked to the side. Upon seeing the logo on the back of the leaders black trench coat Lara took a sharp intake of breath. Unfortunately for her that drew the groups attention.

"_Why Hydra?" _she whispered in a mixture of irritation and surprise as she slid back behind the statue.

"_In a place like this I'm probably safe to guess that the person slinking in the shadows is none other than the remarkable Ms Croft." _

He swivelled around to face the source of the noise. His jet black hair was gelled back but came to a flick at the back of his head. He stood perfectly still as his auburn eyes surveyed the western wall where she was hiding.

There wasn't much Lara could do from behind the statue. She had to come up with a plan to get out of there since there was no point staying around any more and she had to make that plan fast.

So with nowhere to run she exited the shadows with her hands held up, preying they wouldn't shoot her on the spot. The leader of the Hydra group smiled.

"_I bet that was second nature to you Ms Croft."_ Lara didn't say anything but stayed vigilant, _"Hm...My name is Scott Gellis. Now if you could hand over the artefact, it is of great importance to Hydra and it would not be wise to make an enemy of us. Not being a woman of your talents."_

"_Oh I bet it." _Lara scoffed _"And besides, I couldn't give you it if I wanted to." _Seeing the slight mistrusting twitch in Gellis's eyebrow Lara explained "_It wasn't here when I arrived. Someone has already been here. You know I don't get first pick of everything."_

As Gellis turned to examine the empty pedestal, Lara seized the opportunity to quickly clamber up the wall into the darkness above, caused by the ceiling collapsing, hiding behind the rocks that had pilled at the side. The soldiers immediately began to fire at the spot where she used to be.

"_Hold your fire!"_ Shrieked Gellis holding his arms above his head but still managing to look as calm as before. This man was no stranger to the rules of war.

Unlucky for Gellis one of them had already fired a grenade at the base of the statue causing it to start collapsing with Lara still on top. As soon as she felt the statue quiver her heart dropped into her stomach. With little time that she had, Lara ran for the ropes still hanging from the hole.

Realising that she was far better than her reputation gave her credit for, and that she had nearly escaped, Gellis issued a new order, his face redder than before. _"Shoot but only wound her!"_

The agents complied and began shoot at her long exposed legs as they threw her up the swaying rope. Lara was used to climbing ropes with speed so she escaped with ease but one of the agents below, the same one who shot the statue in the first place (he had swapped the grenade launcher for a pistol), managed to clip Lara's thigh as she swung it over the top of the hole. Apparently Gellis had thought he would only needed basic agents and not his best.

Ignoring the pain throbbing in her leg, Lara ran as fast as she could into the forest that surrounded the newly made hole. She fled as fast as she could ducking and weaving in an attempt to avoid the Hydra agents defending the helicopter. She didn't look back once. When she deemed herself safe, she glanced back noticing that the gunfire had caused a bigger cave in, rendering the Hydra agents inside trapped.

Shebreathed a sigh of relief, _"Oh what a shame." _Lara slumped down on the tree she was leaning on, took a medipack out of her bag and started to patch herself up. _"I do hope there isn't any unactivated traps in there to hurt any of those nice men."_

A cheeky yet annoyed smile spread across her face when a beeping noise came from her bag. She, once again, reached in and pulled out her PDA.

"_Ah hello Winston. Checking up on me?" _the signal wasn't that good, it kept fading in an out.

"_Just wondering *crackle* how your journey is fairing." _Lara had known Winston long enough to know he would be smiling when he said this. Whenever he had asked this before she had always been knee deep in trouble. She got to her feet, looked at the map from her bag and began walking to a small town not too far away.

"_It appears that an old friend is back...and he's still intent on annoying me."_

"_It's good to hear you in better *crackle* spirits." _Lara's smiled faded as she continued.

"_Hm...however that it's not just us after the Suum Aantah. Apparently so is Hydra."_

There was a short pause as Winston processed the rather unsettling information.

"_You have a habit of attracting the wrong set of people. So what do we do now?"_

Lara could hear the worry in his voice. She had just reached the top of a hill and could see the town and air strip just a few klicks away. She spent a few moments admiring the view. The sun was turning into a warming orange colour as it began to set.

"_We get help from those who know more." _

Winston knew exactly who she meant and sighed making Lara laugh._"The joy."_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Still don't have that pool of Smarties :(**_

_**Also I've never been to New York and I don't really know much about it so if anyone knows where Stark Tower is supposed to be, please say. The pistols used by Lara are her TR Legend ones.**_

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**Charity Brings us Closer.**

The New York skyline was lit up with the bright lights of the enormous buildings as a few flakes of snow floated down to the icy pavement below. The centre point, and the brightest light, was Stark Tower. A self sustaining building designed by the technological genius that was Tony Stark.

That night Stark was hosting a charity event to raise funds for the families who had lost their homes in the Chitauri invasion. In typical Tony Stark fashion, the party was loud and brash, full of cheering women as Stark showed off his new suit by blasting various items with his ark blasts much to Pepper Potts dismay.

In the far corner were two people, one male the other female. The man was dressed in a suit with his shirt showing off some of his chest. The woman was wearing a knee length, strapless, black dress that had a lace trim on the bottom.

"_Okay not gonna lie but I'm kinda getting bored Skye." _The man rested his head on his hand as he blatantly checked out some of the women in the room.

"_You realise who we're hacking right? I've got to make sure his computer buddy doesn't sense me Hunter." _said Skye with slight annoyance, not lifting her eyes from the screen of her tablet still trying to blend in with the party. Hunter sighed.

"_Go do something then. I can take care of myself. May is my CO, so imagine the training I've done." _Without a second thought Hunter stood up and strode across to the bar, smiling at any woman who looked his way. He sat next to a blonde man who looked really uncomfortable and bored.

It wasn't long before Hunter was joined by a young ginger girl giggling at everything he said. The man next to him kept looking over and sighing.

The main attraction, Tony Stark, had now moved to a sofa near the dance floor, still surrounded by women, watching them dance whilst talking shop with another man.

"_Hunter get over here and leave her alone" _Skye said sternly, sounding worried. She could tell that Hunter had entranced the girl, leaving Skye puzzled on how he did this but the man next to him was relieved that Hunter had moved away.

Somehow Hunter had managed to lose the girl amongst the crowd as he made his way back to Skye still trying to blend in.

"_What's wrong? Tablet run out of battery." _he jested as he sat down peering over her shoulder at the tablet. She ignored his comment and continued working as she explained.

"_I'm running out of time. Friday..."_

"_Friday? Today's Saturday."_

"_The AI Hunter. It knows something is wrong and is searching for me. I need you to find one of Stark's computers and plug this in." _Skye handed him a USB stick. Hunter looked at her blankly.

"_All you do is plug it in, I do the rest. I'm not even going to waste my time explaining it simply because we don't have it." _She rolled her eyes as Hunter left inconspicuously to look for a laptop or other technological devise that it would fit in.

He gently pushed his way through the dancing crowd bobbing his head and greeting people as he went. Hunter had seen no USB ports as he reached the elevator near the spiral staircase. He thought if he was careful enough he could get downstairs and look without being interrupted.

_Need to wait for the right moment. All James Bond like, _he thought with a chuckle as he leaned against the wall. Hunter surveyed the dancing people to see if any were looking his way but as he was about to head downstairs the ding of the elevator sounded temporarily halting his plan.

The elevator door silently slide open revealing a beautiful brunette in a tight deep blue dress that had a small slit on the right hand side showing a bit more of her smooth long legs. Her hair was partially tied up and curled.

It took Hunter a few moments before he realised who he was looking at. He turned his back to her to avoid her gaze.

"_Er Skye..." _he waited for her reply which was a small grunt _"You know that artefact that we got in Mexico. Yeah, the woman we took..."_

"_We got it before she got there."_

"_Yeah her. She's here. Right I'm going downstairs as fast as I can so she doesn't murder me."_

Without giving Skye a chance to respond he quickly ran downstairs.

(x-x)

The party was certainly lively but what else should she expect from Tony Stark. There were some many people that she was surprised that anyone else could even fit in.

"_Finding Stark shouldn't be that hard. Convincing him to help however." _

She took a deep breath and walked further into the room looking for the infamously flirtatious Tony Stark. When she found him he was bouncing coins into a cup like some frat boy in college. Making sure she made eye contact with him, and gave him an inviting smile, she headed towards the bar and sat in the only seat available.

"_Why hello there beautiful." _

Her plan had worked.

"_Tony Stark, although you probably already know that" _Tony chuckled as he took a sip from his drink trying to act all suave. A routine Lara was sure Stark had use on many women before her.

"_Wow Tony." _It was the blonde man still sat in the same place, still with the same unamused face.

"_Hey! I invited you Steve so you could let your hair..."_

"_Wait...Steve Rogers" _She turned to face him. She couldn't be wrong not with the amount of times that Lara had flown to New York just to go to the Smithsonian. _"You'll be more help than he will...and much less annoying" _she finished with a smile.

Tony winked at Steve who shot daggers back at him but as Tony went to leave the girl grabbed him by his sleeve.

"_I'm down a techie so you could help, as much as I will want to punch you" _Steve laughed and looked into the girl's mahogany eyes, "_Anyway time's short, I'm Lara Croft. Is there somewhere we can talk privately Mr Stark?"_

Noticing the look on her face and seeing that it was something serious, Tony nodded and led them downstairs with Lara in second and Steve bringing up the rear. As they passed through the crowd Steve found that his eyes kept traveling downwards on Lara. _Stop it_ he thought as he entered Tony's tech area.

The room was filled with what would appear to the average person as scrap metal. Nearly every table was covered in it. In the centre of the room was a circle of computers not totally dissimilar to Lara's tech room.

"_Talk about taking you work home with you." _said Lara as she ran her fingers over some of the tech laid on the table in the centre of the room wondering what the hell any of it was used for.

Tony sat in a chair ans set his feet on the table while Steve was stood straight, hands in his pockets. Lara briefly examined both Tony and Steve. Tony's attire just screamed billionaire playboy while Steve was more conservative wearing a basic grey suit that Lara thought hugged his physique perfectly.

"_How can we help you Lady Croft?"_ It took her back that he new her formal title was lady. It apparently took Tony back too.

"_Lady?" _questioned Tony with an eyebrow raised. Lara shuffled uncomfortably.

"_Please just stick to Lara. Honestly I hate formalities." _

"_Why? You look hot formal."_

"_Tony!" _Steve snapped staring at Tony as he just smirked.

"_It's okay Mr Rogers. I recently was in mexico looking for the Suum Aantah" _seeing the look on their faces she thought it best to give a brief explanation. _"It's mayan, roughly translated to cord or rope of air. It's said to make the wearer lighter than normal. Although many different books have different interpretations."_

Steve was listening intently not taking his eyes off of Lara. Tony, however, had begun to tinker but was surprisingly still listening. Lara continued anyway.

"_When I got to the main hall of the temple..."_

"_It wasn't there." _Finished Steve wondering how it concerned either him or Tony.

_'Yes but that's not the issue. I know who took it but not who he took it for, Hunter's a merc. Again, that's not what may concern you. As I was about to leave a certain group of people burst in through the ceiling...and they were Hydra."_

Silence filled the room, Tony had even stopped tinkering to turn to look at her.

"_Are you sure?"_

"_They had red serpent skulls on their backs so yeah pretty sure. I'm an archeologist so I know a lot about the past."_

"_So could you tell us all about Capsicle here?"_

Lara and Steve sighed. _"If your asking if I've been to the Smithsonian then yes."_

A flashing red light appeared on the computer next to Tony.

"_Excuse me sir but I appear to be getting hacked. I might have to take a nap soon."_ The trio converged at the computer as Tony began to tap away. As Tony began to find the source of the hack, Lara and Steve heard a rustle behind them.

With amazing speed Lara pulled out her trusty HK USP Match pistols from the bag she had with her and kicked off her shoes. She noticed Steve was looking at her.

"_Basic etiquette. Don't arrive empty handed." _She winked at Steve until another rustle was heard coming from behind the shelves.

Steve silently made his way over to the noise by going to the left while Lara went to the right, her guns drawn and ready to fire. They nodded to each other and pounced around the back of the shelves.

"_Don't Shoot!"_ It was a young man holding his hands above his head. Steve grabbed him and dragged the man into view of Tony.

"_Do you know him Tony?"_

"_I do."_ the voice came from Lara not Tony. _"That's Hunter." _she said with disproving eyes and folded arms. Hunter just looked at her with a nervous smile praying that she wouldn't hit him.

"_Hi sweetie." _Hunter said nervously getting to his feet as Steve let him go but didn't take his eyes off of him.

"_Ugghh" _Lara rolled her eyes. _"Tell me your not..."_

Before she could finish her sentence all the lights went out leaving them in pitch black darkness. She began to search for Hunter in the dark and successfully found someone but was wrestled to the ground before she could decipher who it was.

"_I got it!"_ Tony shouted as the lights flickered back on. _"Friday tell everyone to leave."_

"_Will do sir."_

Lara was laid on the floor with a well built man on top of her, only it wasn't Hunter. He wasn't nearly that muscular.

"_Oh...erm...I'm sorry I thought you were..."_ stumbled Steve as he got up and helped Lara to her feet. The impromptu wrestling match had caused the slit in her dress to tear even further up her leg making Steve feel more awkward.

"_Don't worry about it, I thought you were him. Come on."_ Lara rushed out of the room to chase after Hunter who had fled when the lights went out.

Upstairs was now mostly empty other then a few of the more tipsy people who were slowly but surely making their way to the exit.

"_Bloody hell."_ Lara sat down on the nearest sofa as Tony came running up the stairs.

"_Whoever hacked me managed to get away with my Ark reactor plans. They were one good hacker but not good enough. I blocked most of it. I should be able to trace it." _explained Tony.

He sat down next to Lara, so close that she got up again and stood next to Steve.

"_You know Hydra better than anyone Mr Rogers and I know Hunter. We need to find out why Hydra wants that artefact and who he's working for." _Steve could barely look her in the eyes given he had recently wrestled her to the floor, a slight pinkish glow on his cheeks.

"_Here isn't safe given he's been hacked." _with a nod at Tony opposite_ "Do you have somewhere we can go?"_ asked Steve.

Lara nodded while Tony looked slightly annoyed.

"_My house. I'm not that tech savvy but I do have a...recently vacated tech room that you might like Mr Stark although it's not as fancy as yours. I have a training room which you might enjoy Mr Rogers. But I think we may need more manpower."_

Tony unleashed a loud laugh. _"Don't worry we have friends that'll help. That is if you don't mind the possibility of a big green rage monster and a norse god smashing up your house."_

Lara's eyes widened, her heart beating fast.

"_Don't worry Lady Croft, Dr Banner and Thor won't damage you're home." _explained Steve but Lara's face didn't change.

"_Thor? As in, Mjolnir, Thor. The norse god of thunder?"_ Steve smiled and put his hand on her shoulder as Lara stood perfectly still looking like christmas had come early.

"_I'll let Winston know so he can prepare the necessary rooms."_ she said with a massive smile on her face, although inside she had mixed emotions. The child in her was doing back flips at the thought of meeting an Asgardian but the adult in her was reminded of her recent loss.


	3. Chapter 3

_**I'm just gonna fill my bath with Smarties.**_

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**Team Bonding.**

It had been a week since Tony's party. The Buckinghamshire sky line was as grey and bleak as British weather was in February. With the lights on, Lara Croft's mansion looked so warm and inviting from the outside.

Tony was, once again sat in the tech room, working on 3 different computers at once. Lara always wondered what he was doing but when he began to explain it just soared over her head. She spent most of her time looking up information on the Suum Aantah in her library, cross referencing all the books the mentioned it, trying to figure out how Hydra may want to use it. Steve, however, was often in the gym although sometimes he could be found telling Lara about his time fighting Hydra.

In the week they had been in Lara's home, they were no closer to figuring out why Hydra wanted the artefact or who Hunter was working for. Tony actually gave credit to the person who hack him as they covered their tracks well.

Lara was taking a break from re-reading the books about Mayan lore in her library. She was beginning to feel like she had hit a brick wall...or she had been thrown into it.

She had decided to take a break and do something that helped to relax her mind, rock climbing. As Lara was swinging from the top of the wall she noticed Steve looking up at her. With grace and agility she quickly made her way down. In order to try stay on their toes Steve and Lara had taken to training with each other. While Lara was a good fighter she was even more confident in her skill after learning a few tricks from Captain America himself.

Lara was clad in a small black yoga top and her camouflaged patterned trousers while Steve was in a white t-shirt and cargo trousers.

She smiled at him as they stood at opposite ends of the mats in the centre of the room. They nodded at each other and readied themselves.

"_This time, Steve please don't go easy on me. I guarantee that you won't hurt me." _He returned her smile and gave her a small nod.

They walked around in a circle measuring each others movement carefully, not breaking eye contact. With lighting fast speed Lara launched a super kick straight for Steve's head but he managed to dodge it, grabbing her foot in the process, forcing Lara into the splits on the floor. She spun her other leg around sweeping Steve's toned legs out from underneath him and standing up again.

He hit the floor with a thud but quickly kipped back up, swinging directly for her head. He clipped her in the mouth and drew blood.

"_I'm sorry Lara." _Steveheaded over to her but she began to laugh.

"_That's more like it." _she said, smiling as she wiped the blood from her lip.

Taking advantage of his guilt ridden stance Lara jumped into a 540 kick catching Steve right on the jaw sending him spinning to the floor. She immediately flipped again and landed on top of him. He thew her over his head and they both rolled to their feet, making eye contact and began to circle once again.

This time Lara waited for Steve to attack first and he didn't disappoint her.

He heaved his right fist straight for Lara's face, giving in to her _don't hold back_ rule. She only just dodged it by doing a back handspring but quickly jumped at him landing on his shoulders. Not giving Steve any chance she did a hurricanrana, dragging him back to the floor.

He, however, didn't let go and tried to pin her on her back but even with her small frame she had a lot of strength, especially in her legs. She used them to swing over and pin Steve's arms to the floor.

"_She kicked your ass Rogers. And you were actually trying!"_

Both Steve and Lara looked up to see two new people in the doorway. Lara stood up and her eyes flicked between the two newcomers.

The man was wearing tinted sunglass, dark blue loose fitting jeans and a leather jacket where as the girl was in tight black jeans and a grey jumper.

"_I'm Natasha Romanov and this is Clint Barton. Tony contacted us and said you might need our help." _Natasha shook Lara's hand while Clint just stared.

"_I think you two should fight. That'll be fun." _Clint had a big grin on his face which quickly faded when he saw Natasha's glaring face.

Steve walked up behind Lara and handed her a towel and an ice pack for her lip, which had swollen slightly. His face was still so apologetic.

Lara led the four of them back into the main hall where Tony was still working but had a big smile on his had been watching on the cameras. Natasha, Clint and Lara sat on the cream sofas in front of the fireplace. As Steve went to lean against the wall he gave Tony a look to keep his mouth shut.

"_From what we've gathered with the intel that Tony gave use there is a third party involved." _Natasha started as Winton brought in some cups and a pot of tea. _"This Hunter fellow wasn't..."_

A loud earthshaking bang erupted from the back of the house. Without a second thought, Tony threw Lara and Natasha guns from the storage locker, and, minus Tony who remained in the tech room, they headed outside.

Bright rainbow lights began to fade as they drifted towards to sky. With immense caution the group slowly made their way to the centre of the maze. As they approached, they saw a blonde, red caped man scratching his head surveying the rubble that once was the centre statue as water sprayed everywhere.

"_Thor?"_ Natasha lowered her gun followed by Lara, whose eyes were wide open.

"_I'm sorry. Heimdall isn't very well today. I didn't mean to smash the statue." _

Lara wasn't even listening nor did she care about the statue, she was too busy staring. Thor was in no way what Lara had expected. After all the books she had read, she didn't really know what he would look like.

"_Thor this is Lady Lara Croft."_ gestured Steve. Lara's face hadn't changed.

"_Ah Lady Croft, I am terribly sorry about..."_

"_You're actually Thor. The norse god of thunder." _They all smiled realising that Lara was starstruck. The child in her was bouncing around screaming. Thor took Lara's hand and kissed it making her blush slightly.

"_She's an archaeologist. Lara probably knows more about you than you do." _Tony had joined them, _"You should see her little artefact room."_

That statement shook Lara back to reality.

"_I shouldn't really be shocked that you've snooped around my home Mr Stark, should I?."_

Seeing the look on everyones face she sighed and led them back into the house. This time, before they reached the main hall, they veered left and went down a spiral staircase.

They entered a fairly large room with elaborate red carpet on the floor and various paintings on the walls. It was the far wall that held Lara's prized possessions, even if the memories attached were painful.

"_What's with the weird swords?" _Clint walked over and reached out to touch them but his hand was slapped away by Natasha.

"_Ha, you probably..."_

"_Ahhhhh!"_ They turned to face the door to see Tony sat on the floor staring atsomething above the door. Lara began to laugh.

"_Are you a hunter as well Lady Croft?" _asked Thor, smiling.

"_Please call me Lara, Thor. Not really, I just happened to come across a T-Rex...or two. One in Peru and another somewhere in the south pacific. I don't really remember exactly where, I travel a lot."_

Thor turned to face the swords but something else caught his eyes.

"_You have my gauntlets, and my belt. Did you find..." _Lara's smile answered his question.

"_So you have my other hammer?"_ At that her face dropped.

"_Erm...no...I kinda threw that in the Eitr. Well, at Natla but it landed in the Eitr."_

Thor gave her a small smile. _"You Lady...Lara have my respect. I would have liked to have the hammer back but I'm sure that you did what you needed to."_

Lara realised that the Avengers probably didn't have a way of contacting Thor. How do you contact Asguard, call 0800 Heimdall. If they had contacted him somehow they wouldn't have reacted to the bang in the way they did.

"_I don't mean to sound rude Thor, but why are you here?"_ Lara asked with an eyebrow raised.

"_Ah yes...I was sent do find out what the strange energy serge is."_

Tony cleared his throat gaining everyones attention and gestured to the door. The group headed back into the main hall and towards the tech room. Tony took a seat behind the desk and began clattering on they keyboard as everyone gathered and waited.

"_Do you wanna explain or are we playing pictionary?"_ jested Clint.

Tony slowly looked up. _"Say what you see." _he said with a playful grin _"Do you mean that one Thor?"_

Thor examined the screen above Tony carefully and eventually nodded. It showed an overhead view of a forrest area with a whirlwind of colours circling outwards from what appeared to a be a large building.

"_You, Lara, should be happy you came to me for help. For those who aren't a norse god or know anything about science, that is the same energy reading that the Tesseract gives off."_

Lara stared at the screen and sighed loudly making everyone turn to look at her. She recognised the area.

"_That's my house isn't it?" _Her sad eyes met Tony's. He nodded.

Winston had entered the room carrying a tray of drinks. He noticed that Lara was looking at the floor. He stepped forward defesively.

"_Pack your bags Winston. Your going to have to leave for a while." _Winston stood shocked to the spot, _"Please don't argue with me. I'd rather not lose anyone else, especially not you."_

She turned and despondently headed upstairs towards her room.


	4. Chapter 4

_**This does have areas shown in Beneath The Ashes DLC. I, however, never played it (don't particularly care for TR Underworld but I watched BTA on youtube.) so if something is wrong let me know. Thank you xD**_

_**I'm might need a lot of Smarties.**_

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**Can't catch a Break.**

Lara stood in her walk in closet, staring at her reflection in the mirror. She barely recognised herself anymore. Since Alistair's death she had kept herself busy, thinking that would help her grieve. If anything it just made her feel worse, kinda of numb, although by looking at her, you would never know it. Lara had always been good at putting up a facade.

Every time she was in the library she had expected to she him sat behind the desk with his face buried in a book. Every time she was out in the field and needed more of a background on something, she had the automatic reflex to ask Alistair. But she no longer could.

She sighed heavily and changed out of her sweaty clothes that she had fought Steve in, replacing them with her dark green trousers and her black tank top. As she pulled a jacket over her shoulders someone knocked at the door.

"_You can come in."_

The oak door open without a creak and in stepped Steve as she pulled on her fingerless gloves.

"_Winston has gone. He said he's borrowing the Aston." _He looked at her for a brief moment. Even when she was sad she was still beautiful.

"_Are you alright?" _he continued. Lara gave a small nod as she walked towards the medusa carving on the wall. She pulled the two daggers down on either side causing the carving to open up.

"_Well that's an elaborate way to hide your guns." _said Steve in a failed attempt to make Lara smile. She didn't even make a noise.

As Lara headed for the door, Steve grabbed her arm turning her around to face him.

"_You know something. Even if it's linked to something painful, which clearly it is, we need to know everything. Especially if the thing causing the serge is anything like the Tesseract."_

He never once let go of her arm as he spoke, making Lara feel oddly safe and comfortable. His tone was firm yet gentle as was his grip on her arm and he looked directly into her eyes.

As Lara turned her gaze to her feet, Steve could feel her begin to shake and hear her breathing heavily. Realising he had hit a nerve he pulled her in close and hugged her.

The tears that had gathered in Lara's eyes began to slide down her face. She could no longer hold them back. With a sob she grasped tightly at Steve's shirt, burying her face into his chest.

The oak door swung open again causing Steve and Lara to pull apart.

"_Er...Tony is planning to dig up your house, so you might wanna go downstairs." _Clint had an innocent smile on his face. As Lara, once again, sighed and headed back into the main hall, Clint winked at Steve. Steve just rolled his eyes and followed Lara.

Back in the main hall Natasha and Tony were arguing, loudly. Tony was taking refuge behind the computers while Natasha stood opposite with her hands on her hips.

"_You don't need to destroy my home Stark." _There was a hint of venom in her words, _"I would rather not have to rebuild it again."_

Natasha was now leaning against the archway entrance to the tech room where as Tony had sat back down not taking his eyes off of Lara.

"_Now I would suggest that you, Stark, stay here and keep track of us. Steve, you might want to go put something you can move a lot more freely in." _He nodded and jogged towards his room.

Natasha and Clint exchanged confused looks. _"What about us Lara?"_ questioned Natasha.

Lara turned to look at them. _"Could you and Mr Barton stay here please? Feel free to help yourself to food and films. I trust that you, Natasha, can keep him in line." _she finished with a head jerk to Tony. Natasha chuckled.

"_Where are we going? I'm assuming I'm coming with you."_ asked Thor as Steve had returned wearing his now famous Captain America outfit and clutching his shield.

Lara walked over to the bookcase on the right hand wall of the tech room and flicked a switch on the back. The bookshelf shuddered and then open to reveal a dark passage. She grabbed her backpack from a nearby table and turned on the torch attached to the strap.

"_I hope your not afraid of the dark." _She threw another torch to Steve.

Lara, Steve and Thor descended down the passage and entered her families crypt. Thor had to duck as he went down the stairs. Flicking the switch on the side of her grandfathers grave, the entire grave began to shake and it slid to the right, revealing another passage beneath.

"_Does everyone in your family do everything elaborately?"_ asked Steve. This time Lara did chuckle.

She led them through the cave, climbing and jumping over gaps in the floor until they arrived in the main chamber. Making short work of the timed door blocking the way to Lara's father's hidden study, Lara lent against the desk feeling uneasy.

"_You said you wanted me to tell you what I know. So before we carry on I'll tell you the brief overview."_

Steve and Thor exchanged looks.

"_When I was nine, myself and my mother were in a plane crash over Nepal. We landed in the Himalayan__ mountains where I...stumbled upon a portal and a dais. I touched the sword and...well my mother disappeared."_

Lara fidgeted uncomfortably.

"_My father spent years trying to find out what happened to my mother. He died on a dig in Cambodia, or so we all thought. I began looking for more dais' when I was old enough and found one in Tiwanaku, Bolivia. That lead me on the quest for the shards to Excalibur."_

Steve's face crunched up in confusion, as did Thor's. _"It's the fabled sword of King Arthur."_ Clarified Steve not really relieving Thor's confusion.

"_Not only did I find that on old friend was alive but that the portal in Bolivia connected to the one when I was nine. Amanda, the old friend, was shouting take out the sword it'll explode if you don't which led to my mothers disappearance."_

Lara fidgeted again feeling even more uncomfortable. Steve walked over to her and held her hand trying to get her to continue.

"_Let's speed this up. My home was attacked by a doppelgänger of me. She killed Alistair and took the gauntlet that I had found. It was no use to Amanda though. The doppelgänger had been made by a Atlantian goddess named Natla. Natla had been working with Amanda but had her own agenda. She planned to create the seventh age. My father figured that out and she killed him before he had chance to..." _She fiddled with her gloves "_To stop Natla I had to throw Mjolnir at her and it was lost in the Etir."_

A silence spread threw the decrepit study. Thor put his hand on her shoulder and smiled.

"_Then you did do it for a good reason."_ Lara chuckled, took a deep breath and led Steve and Thor deeper into the foundations.

(x-x)

Tony was tinkering with a part of his suit whilst Clint was watching Tv. Natasha was the only one keep track of Lara, Steve and Thor signals. Silence filled the room only to be punctuated by the loud cackles coming from Clint.

There was a loud knock at the main door.

"_Natasha go open the door." _said Tony not looking up. Natasha slowly turned to face him.

"_I might have red hair but I'm not Potts. Open it yourself."_

Tony sighed and stuck his tongue out at Natasha as the knocking continued.

He made sure to make as much noise as possible as he walked to the door which only succeeded in annoying Clint.

"_Hel...Didn't know you were into old building's Tony?"_

A man with deep brown hair stood holding one bag over his shoulder and another by his side. The man's grey jacket covered his trademark purple shirt.

"_Nice of you to join us Bruce. Welcome to Lara Croft's home of silence and awkwardness."_ replied Tony letting Bruce in.

"_What?" _asked Bruce putting his bags at the side of the sofa.

"_He wanted to dig up Lara's home to find the source of the surge. For obvious reasons, myself and Lara had an issue with that."_

Natasha didn't look up once but was focused on the screen. The blips on the screen, representing the group in the crypt, began to flicker.

"_Erm Tony we're losing contact with them."_ Natasha began to panic and tap away on the computer trying to get the signal back.

"_They're underground what do you expect."_

But it wasn't the miles of brick and mortar between them that was blocking the signal. As Natasha's fears went unheard by Tony and Clint, Bruce sat beside her and tried to help. That was not the only activity at Croft manor.

(x-x)

"_Where are we now?"_ asked Steve looking at the intricately carved walls.

"_Deep in the foundations. My father hid another artefact down here. One that can create and control thralls. I'm guessing that may be the source of energy surge given there is Etir down here so be careful where you step."_ answered Lara whilst she continued to walk on wanting to get out as fast as she could.

She led them into a circular room which, in the centre, had a pedestal still holding that very artefact.

"_Hmm. This indeed could be the source but only if the Cord of Air has been activated. Only then will this give off a signal." _Thor picked up the artefact and put it in pocket hidden in his cape.

"_The Suum Aantah._" said Lara dryly causing Thor to turn around, his eyes thin.

"_It's been found, hasn't it?"_

Another earth shaking bang rocked the very foundations they were in.

"_Ok, that was an explosion." _stated Steve.

As they made their way back upstairs, the ceiling began to crumble unleashing more of the Etir, but that wasn't the only thing let loose.

A mighty roar echoed through the decaying corridors freezing the group to the spot. Without warning the wall to the right smashed open bringing down more of the ceiling separating Thor from Steve and Lara.

"_Go back! I will deal with this beast."_ Thor shouted through the blocked corridor. Lara didn't listen and began to pull away what she could.

"_Come on. Thor can take care of himself." _She still didn't listen forcing Steve to pick her up and throw her over his shoulder.

Eventually Lara fought her way out of Steve's grip, annoyed that they had left Thor behind. Noticing that Lara's eyes were filling with tears again, Steve gently grabbed her head forcing her to look in his crystal blue eyes.

"_He'll be fine so don't go blaming yourself. If it helps we can talk when we get out of here."_ He was stern yet considerate but her emotions were building to a boiling point.

"_If he dies..." _she was cut off by the growl, several growls, of glowing blue corpses.

The thralls charged both Steve and Lara who reacted with lightning fast speed. Steve threw his shield at the centre of the thrall congregation causing it to ricochet between them. Lara took this opportunity to execute some of the thralls thinning the herd.

Steve reclaimed his shield and dragged Lara away who was still letting loose upon the thralls.

Lara's agility matched that of Steve's as they clambered there way back up to the entrance to the crypt. Steve suddenly pinned Lara to the wall putting his hand over his mouth.

"_Listen."_

They could hear fighting above them. Fearing that more people were going to get hurt because of her choices, Lara fought out of Steve's grasp and sprinted into the main hall ready for a fight.


	5. Chapter 5

**Moving again.**

As Lara rushed back into the main hall she saw that, once again her home was wrecked. Her heart tightened and sank into the pit of her stomach. In the fireplace, which was no longer alight, she saw a hint of yellow and red. With a groan Tony carefully clambered out of the fireplace in his armour.

"_Well, that was fun."_ Clint appeared over the banister holding his arm. Seeing the shock on Lara's face Clint leaped over the banister, landing just beside her, and put his hand on her shoulder.

Natasha was the next to appear. She walked down the main stairs as if nothing happened.

"_We're going to have to move. I'm sorry Lara but it was Hydra."_

"_Ha, I have somewhere we can go. Parts of it are still getting rebuilt but it'll be safer. Seriously I've got better tech defence." _ Tony had taken his battered helmet off and cast it aside with it being no use any more.

Lara wasn't really listening but was looking around at her, once again, smashed up home. She turned towards the main door which was completely and utterly gone.

Bruce's head popped around the corner. _"Erm...can I have some clothes please?"_ he asked with a sheepish smile. Lara could see his bare shoulder making her realise why the front door was missing.

Clint rummaged around the rubble whilst chuckling to himself. Eventually he located Bruce's bag and pulled out some trousers and a shirt.

"_Excuse me Lady Croft, the swords in your artefact room have gone. I tried to stall them the best that I could." _Friday's crackly voice echoed through the hall.

Lara gave a small sigh. _"That's a relief." _Bruce and Clint exchanged confused looks as they walked into the hall, Bruce now fully clothed.

"_You didn't think that I would have them in such an obvious place do you?"_ she forced a smile to curl at her lips, trying to hide the sorrow she had for her house.

She walked over to the extinguished fire place and crawled into it. The hidden door at the back wouldn't open.

"_Tony, can you blast the back of the fireplace please?" _Lara asked politely as she crawled back out.

He gave her a nod with a smile, _"Blasting is what I do. Well other than..."_

"_Tony."_ Steve interjected.

Tony giggled to himself as he raised his arm at the fireplace and after a small charge, the back of the fireplace crumbled. Lara crawled back underneath disappearing from sight. She returned a few moments later with the black and green swords in one hand and a small leather bag in the other.

"_Ooh, what's in the bag?"_ Tony tried to grab at it like a child in a sweet shop.

"_Thor's real gauntlets. Again it's not something I want to severely advertise."_

At that moment another bang shook the house. Poised for another fight everyone stared at the crypt entrance.

"_That was a fun fight."_ Thor had a grin beaming from his chiseled face. Seeing Thor stood safe and sound, reasonably untouched, in the wreckage of her home did alleviate some of the worry. _"What happened here?"_

Bruce chuckled _"I'll explain while everyone gets their things."_

Tony, Steve and Lara, being the only ones who head stayed more than one day, went to their rooms gathering everything that they needed.

Back in her room Lara could feel her anger bubbling back up. Sometimes she really wondered if she should just join a nunnery. Cut herself off from everyone else so that no one would get hurt. That way she wouldn't find so much trouble. A part of her was thankful that she wasn't in London when Malekith was around.

After packing a few necessary items into a bag like clothes, shoes and underwear, Lara sighed and sat down on the sofa in the centre of the room, dropping the bag on the table. A few years ago she would have been severely annoyed if she wasn't in London when Thor fought Malekith. She would have gladly helped, her norse knowledge would have helped.

"_I really have changed."_ she mumbled solemnly to herself.

Some one knocked gently on the door. Lara ignored them, she wanted to gather her thoughts and control her emotions before leaving the remnants of the house she grew up in again. The person knocked again, slightly harder this time, before they opened the door.

It was Steve with his bag in hand.

He saw her sat on her sofa looking worn. Putting his bag down at the edge he sat next to her, close enough that he could put his arm around her but far enough away that he didn't feel awkward.

"_I really regret my lifestyle sometimes."_ she had said so quietly that Steve had barely heard her.

"_I told you Thor would be alright." _Lara giggled as she looked Steve in his clear blue eyes.

For the first time Lara actually realised how handsome Steve was. Thing is, it wasn't just in appearance but in personality as well. He was caring, thoughtful and brave. He would lay down his life for anyone. Lara figured if you were to date Steve that he would treat you like a queen. The complete opposite of Tony, who would love you and leave you.

_Too many people have loved and left me,_ she thought. Lara realised what she was thinking and mentally shook it from her mind.

A few moments had passed in silence, Steve still had his arm around her. She looked back down to her feet.

"_After this is all over..." _For the first time she could remember Lara had stumbled on her own words.

"_Yes?" _Steve tried his hardest to keep the excitement out of his voice. He knew exactly what he wanted her to say.

"_Hmm, I find it easier to talk to you than I do Winston. I know he cares but I need an objective view. The view of an outsider. So, after this is over can I...Can we talk about Alistair and all of that? I need to get it out of my system." _She could hardly believe that she had said it.

Steve cupped her chin and moved her face to look at him. He was smiling.

"_Absolutely."_

Lara laughed to herself before Steve shuffled closer to hug her fully. She tied her arms around his waist, her head nested in his neck. She couldn't help but notice, even after being in her families crypt, that he smelled so nice.

Steve had expected to feel awkward holding her so close, especially with her head buried in his neck. But he didn't. He enjoyed comforting her. He liked her scent and the feel of her soft hair on his neck. They had form a fast friendship in the week he had been there. Both of them had to tune out Tony's smart remarks and had trained together.

Lara slowly pulled back, taking in a deep breath. Steve's calming blue eyes met her chocolate brown eyes. Both of their minds went blank as they closed the distance between them.

"_Hey toots are you ready? We're waiting on you and the capsicle."_

The sound of Tony's voice brought Steve and Lara back to reality and they quickly stood up, hoping Tony didn't notice how close they had gotten.

"_Yeah I'm ready."_

Steve passed Lara her bag as he picked up his own. He was careful to avoid her enchantingly beautiful eyes.

* * *

_**I know this is a short chapter but nothing else fit into this one. I have plans. Oh and don't think I've forgotten about Hunter ; )**_


	6. Chapter 6

**Arguments and Artefacts.**

Two men were sat on a brown leather sofa in a dimly lit room, the only light source being the TV on which they were playing a violent video game. One male was well built, bald with a goatee, the other was smaller, had a shaven head and stubble. On the table in front of them were sweet wrappers and the odd empty bottle.

"_You kill me again Mac and I swear I'm gonna curb stomp you for the rest of the round."_ playfully threatened the smaller of the two.

"_You won't be able to. You suck at Gears of War, Hunter." _

The man named Mac cheered as he won the round while Hunter threw the controller on the floor before taking a swig of his beer.

A tall beautiful brunette entered the room, holding a file in her hand, and switched on the lights, tutting as she did so.

"_Why do you insist on playing that in the dark? In fact don't answer that I don't care."_

The three of them could hear raised voices in the distance and it wasn't for the first time. Over the past week Coulson and May had been arguing a lot but it was always been in private.

"_I wonder what are they arguing about today Bobbi? Who ate the last yogurt?" _asked Hunter sarcastically, taking another drink from his beer. She raised an eyebrow, half amused.

"_That artefact you guys got. No one here knows anything about it." _Bobbi had a pensive look on her face as still flicked through the file.

Hunter rose to his feet and put his, now empty, bottle of beer in the bin as another woman entered the room caring a tablet that lit up her young face, looking like christmas came early.

"_What with the grin, Skye?" _asked Mac walking to look over her shoulder.

"_The Arc Reactor has improved efficiency ten fold. I don't think I've ever seen Fitz happier." _Skye raised her head and saw the wrappers on the table _"He looks like Hunter in a candy store."_

Hunter smiled proudly.

A few moments went by as Bobbi sat down reading the file she had in her hand and Mac and Skye talked about the Arc Reactor and all of the possibilities that they could use it for.

"_You know instead of stumbling in the dark, we could just ask her for help. If we tell Lara why we need her, she'll help."_ Bobbi slowly raised her head from the file, her face cold. Mac and Skye exchanged looks of excitement at the thought of possibly working with Lara Croft.

"_We might have to," _Phil Coulson had arrived with Melinda May in tow. He was in his usual suit and had his hands in his pockets, "_We've just gotten word that Hydra has those green swords. You know the King Arthur ones."_

"_Excalibur." _said Hunter in the most mock posh voice he could, getting a smile out of Mac, Skye and Coulson but not Bobbi or May.

Bobbi tutted and shook her head, throwing the file on the table. She turned to face Coulson, her face stoic.

"_That's what she gets when she puts them on show. You realise that she'll probably want something in return."_

Coulson was about to speak but was pipped to the post.

"_Not if we explain everything,"_ Hunter defended Lara in her absence, "_She's saved the world god knows how many times."_

"_Yeah and she gets paid for her stories. And that's what most of them will be, stories." _Bobbi's voice had risen, clearly annoyed at the fact Hunter was defending Lara.

Everyone could sense the tension. Everyone except Hunter.

"_She might be rich but she still needs some kind of income. That an she'll know that this is too dangerous to talk about." _His voice had also risen.

"_Can you find her Hunter?" _asked Coulson loudly, interrupting the start of an argument. Hunter nodded and looked at Skye indicating he might need her help. She smiled back before leading him into another room, leaving Bobbi glaring holes in the back of Hunters head.

Mac shrugged his shoulders as he went to tinker with cars. Bobbi sighed heavily picking up the file on the table.

Hunter and Skye were sat in front of a computer screen. Hunter had used his contacts to find out if Lara was even home or not. They all told him that they didn't know. Skye then used the computer to get an overview look of Croft manor, wondering why she didn't just do that at the start.

Hunter did not like what he saw. The majority of the house was a pile of rubble. The front door was gone, there was a giant hole on the roof and inside, the floor was covered in rubble.

"_She's Lara Croft. She'll be fine Hunter."_ Skye tried to settle Hunter's fear.

His eyes grew wide as a light bulb went off in his head.

"_Can you find the number of Winston Smith?"_

Skye tapped away at the computer and it didn't take her long to set up a protected call.

The phone rang three times before Hunter heard the ever polite voice of Winston.

"_Hello."_

"_Winston, It's Hunter."_

"_Oh hello Mr Hunter."_

"_Lara's home is ruined, again, are you alright?"_

Winston didn't respond for a few minutes. Clearly he didn't know that.

"_Winston?"_

"_She told me to leave after Thor and Mr Stark found a weird energy surge beneath the house. I hope she's okay." _fear flooded his voice.

"_Winston, please don't go back, we'll check it out, It's important that I find her."_

"_Might I suggest trying Mr Stark, Mr Hunter. If the house is destroyed and they are okay, he may suggest going to his. I don't know if any of the others have anywhere safe to go."_

"_Wait, others? Who else was there?" _asked Hunter, curiosity getting the better of him.

"_Mr, Rogers, Mr Barton and Miss Romanoff along with Mr Stark and Thor, Sir"_

"_Yeah okay, thank you Winston. Don't worry she'll be fine and again, don't go back. It is too dangerous."_

"_I understand. Good Bye Mr Hunter, take care."_

"_Bye."_

Winston put down the phone, leaving Hunter feeling slightly more relieved that Winston hadn't been there. Hunter always had had respect for Winston. He did, after all, have to deal with Lara's extravagant lifestyle. He never complained, not openly anyway.

Lara being at Stark's did make sense, she had gone to his party. The same one that Skye and Hunter had been at. The same one she had caught Hunter at.

"_So any luck?" _Coulson had entered, not wanting to waste any time.

Skye gave a brief overview on what they had just discussed with Winston. At the mention of Stark and Thor, Coulson's face dropped a little.

"_You don't have to go Coulson."_ Skye had gotten up to put a soothing hand on his shoulder. _"We could explain."_

The Avengers all thought he was dead. Thor had watched him die, watched Loki stab him through the heart. Coulson knew that explaining how he was alive was going to be difficult and would only stir more distrust for S.H.I.E.L.D.

"_It'll be better coming from me. But you and Hunter are coming too. They will want to know why you were at Stark's party. And Miss Croft might feel a little better with someone else there that she knows."_

They nodded in acknowledgement before going of the get ready.

Coulson remained in the room. "_This is going to be fun." _he thought attempting to raise his own spirits.


	7. Chapter 7

**Spaghetti Bolognese.**

The flight to New York was, for the most part, peaceful. Steve had been drawing most of the time, Bruce sat at the back keeping himself to himself. Well, he tried to but that's a little difficult when you have Tony Stark prodding you in the side. Natasha was reading in between threatening Tony about him tempting the Hulk. Bruce barely talking to or looking at Natasha. Clint was watching TV, utterly oblivious of everyone else. While Thor had opted to fly himself. He had no need of a plane.

Lara, even amongst the threats of Natasha and childlike chuckles from Tony, managed to go to sleep. It was a disturbed sleep however. If she wasn't dreaming about Alistair she was dreaming about what had happened with Steve. Sometimes it was a mixture of the two.

She and Steve would be dancing with each other. Steve, wearing a tuxedo and Lara in a long red dress. They would gradually get closer and closer until they were inches apart only to be forcefully pulled apart by a dishevelled Alistair begging for Lara for her help.

When she woke up from the more disturbing dreams she would quickly glance around seeing if anyone had noticed. Lara's eyes would often meet with the worried sky blue eyes of Steve Rogers. They would keep eye contact for a brief moment before Steve looked away, returning to his drawing, feeling awkward. As soon as Lara looked away from him however he would sneak a glance at her making sure she was alright.

The entire way there Tony promised every one that Stark Tower was better defended and equipped than before.

Lara's allocated room in Stark Tower was huge. Probably bigger than her own back home. Mind you that may have had a huge chunk of it blown apart.

The room was long and wide. On the far wall was a huge window surrounded by heavy deep purple curtains. The modern looking bed was on the wall to the right of the bedroom door. Its sheets were a cream colour and made of silk.

Lara placed her small bag on the bed and was about to unpack there was a knock at the door. She opened it and expected to find a smug Tony on the other side. It wasn't Tony, it was Natasha.

"_Hey."_

Relieved that it wasn't Tony, Lara let Natasha into the room.

"_Why is every room so big?" _questioned Natasha as she looked around the room. Lara laughed.

"_Because it's Stark."_

Natasha watched Lara as she put her clothes into the walk in wardrobe. Natasha could tell what some one was feeling by their movements. It was something she was trained to do.

"_Are you alright, Lara?"_

Lara looked up, shocked that it was Natasha that had asked. She had heard stories about the Black Widow and they all painted her to be rather cold. It was nice to know that she had a heart.

"_I will be. But ask me again when it's over. Oh and thank you for not letting Stark smash up my home."_

Natasha gave Lara a warm smile. She respected Lara. She had fought through so many dangerous situations and often only came out with a few cuts and bruises. Natasha admired Lara's sense of determination.

Sensing that Lara didn't really want to talk about the artefact or her home, Natasha changed the subject. At first they talked about the others starting with how Natasha met Clint. They felt so at ease with each other that before long they were chatting like they had known each other for years whilst Lara finished unpacking.

When she had finished Friday told them that everyone else were in the living room. Natasha and Lara continued to chat all the way there.

The living room was three times the size of Lara's bedroom. Clint and Thor were watching TV, Thor was staring at it like it was the greatest thing since sliced bread. Tony was sat at a computer typing away looking rather pensive. Steve, however, was in the kitchen cooking.

As they entered the living room, Natasha noticed Steve and Lara look at each other only to quickly look away again. She hummed thoughtfully to herself. Lara had noticed the very large window. If she hadn't noticed it she must have been blind.

She stood leaning on the window, looking out over the skyline of New York city.

"_Please tell me I can go out there." _

Tony laughed loudly at the fact she had actually asked.

"_Sure, your not a prisoner. Just don't jump off Croft!" _he shouted after her as she went out onto the balcony.

Lara got as close to the edge as she could, letting a small sense of adrenaline flow through her. The wind whistled by causing her hair to flow to the side. It was at the high points, inches from the edge that Lara felt alive. Holding onto the railing, she closed her eyes, letting the wind blow her gently from side to side.

"_You are a real adrenaline junkie aren't you?"_

Lara opened her eyes to see Natasha to her right. Lara smiled at her. Probably her first genuine smile for quite a while.

"_I'm just going to say it." _Lara raised her eyebrows, intrigued. _"What's going on with you and Steve? You looked at each other but then quickly looked away. As if you were avoiding each other."_

Lara's faced dropped into a more plain look.

"_What do you mean?"_

"_You know what I mean." _Natasha's voice was light and playful.

"_Hmm. Back home I...I asked Steve if he would talk to me about Alistair. He said yes and hugged me."_

Natasha cut her off.

"_You, got close." _Lara reluctantly nodded. "_So do you..?"_

"_Oh don't get me wrong, Steve's a nice guy an all, but...no."_

The look on Natasha's face told Lara that she didn't believe her. Lara rolled her eyes as Natasha giggled. Hearing Natasha giggle, Lara couldn't suppress a smile and began to laugh herself. Lara was beginning to feel like Natasha was her long lost Russian sister.

"_Natasha, Lara? Dinner's ready. I made spaghetti bolognase, enough for everyone."_

Steve, talk of the devil, popped his head around the door, a sheepish look on his face. Natasha's smile grew a little wider as Lara sighed following Steve back into the living room.

They all ate the spaghetti bolognase at the sofas. Thor wolfed down his portion thanking Steve, who was on his left, every so often and complimenting his cooking. Tony was still working but he was now on a tablet on the other side of Thor. Bruce ate his quietly, talking to Natasha. Clint, however, was still watching TV chuckling loudly between bites.

Lara was awkwardly sat next to Steve. Natasha had given her a sly push causing Lara to lose her balance and fall onto the sofa only just saving the spaghetti bolognase, next to Steve. Not wanting to give Natasha the satisfaction of being right, Lara had stayed put.

"_This is delicious Steve."_ Lara said, her gaze still on her food.

"_Thank you Lara." _a warm feeling spread inside of Steve as a small half smile crept its way to his lips.

With most of the awkwardness lifted, Lara and Steve launched into a conversation about their many adventures. Natasha would look over, smiling, pleased with her work.

When Lara had finished eating she thanked Steve again as he tried to take her plate from her. She refused saying the he had cooked it she would clean it. Tony butted in telling them both that the dish washer would clean it.

"_Excuse me sir, but the elevator is on its way up and I cannot see who is in it."_

Friday's voice came from all around them. Without waiting for any other information Natasha and Lara ran to their rooms to gather their weapons. The plates were discarded on the coffee table.

Steve and Thor were stood the closest to the elevator with Steve's shield and Mjolnir in hand. Behind them were Lara and Natasha aiming at the elevator from behind cover. Bringing up the rear was Bruce and Clint.

The elevator doors slid open soundlessly. A man and a woman stepped out with there hands in the air.

"_Whoa, whoa, whoa. I'd rather keep my head." _the man said his eyes closed. The girl couldn't hide the excited look on her face. Her eyes darted all over, mainly over Thor.

Lara stepped forward putting her hand on Mjolnir as she walked passed making Thor lower it. Lara was not amused.

"_Everyone meet Hunter. Oh wait you already met Stark and Steve."_

Hunter grinned widely opening one of his eyes. Everyone relaxed and lowered their weapons and hands.

"_Hey Lara. This is Skye and this..." _Hunter turned around to face the elevator as someone else stepped out. Everyone in the room, apart from Lara, gasped. She looked around and their eyes were wide, the look of shock etched onto their faces.

"_Coulson?" How?" _stumbled Thor. He looked the most hurt.

Coulson sighed before he answered.

"_I promise I'll explain the best I can. But right now we need your help Lady Croft."_

Lara didn't really know what to do. She felt out of place. Like an apple in a bowl full of oranges. It was at that moment that Tony re-entered the room. Lara turned to face him. She had expected to see him in his suit but he wasn't.

"_You hacked me. Unfortunately for you Friday had managed to get something from you. That's what I was doing earlier." _Tony's face was deathly serious. The most serious any of them had ever seen.

"_S.H.I.E.L.D never learns._" He turned his attention to Natasha and Clint. _"What I'm about to show you, you won't like. What I want to know is if you two knew?"_

Coulson tried to stop Tony but couldn't. Tony pressed a few times on his tablet until a video appeared on the TV.

Everyone's faces dropped even further at the sight of Coulson laid out on a table, a machine fiddling with his exposed brain. He was calling out, asking them to let him die.

Lara felt weak at the knees. She had never met Coulson before but that...that was just... Anger had filled Thor and Bruce had turned away completely. Lara began to feel sick, her face was pale, her legs were getting weaker. She was caught by Steve, who helped her to the kitchen to get some water.

"_Turn it off Tony."_ Demanded Steve as he sat Lara down at the bar stool at the counter.

Tony didn't listen but was still staring at an obviously distraught Natasha.

"_TONY! Turn it off!" _Steve bellowed, his was firm as he forced Lara to take a drink of water.

Natasha sunk into the sofa, her eyes filled with tears.

"_I take that as a no then." _Tony turned off the video, feeling angry but sorry that he had assumed Natasha and Clint knew.

Moments went by in silence. Natasha was sobbing in Clint's arms. Bruce had also sat back down. Thor was looking straight at Coulson still not fully aware that this was real. Steve stayed with Lara making sure she was alright.

"_I will explain everything I can about that later. Right now we need your help Lady Croft."_

She looked over to Coulson, her eyes meeting his.

"_Hmm you went for the Suum Aantah not knowing what it was." _Her voice was dry and quiet. The video was replaying in her head and she couldn't shake it.

"_Yes we heard that Hydra wanted it. We've also heard Hydra have the Excalibur swords."_

She shuck her head slowly.

* * *

_**I didn't want this chapter to get too long. Their conversation will continue next chapter. Thank you for reading.**_


	8. Chapter 8

_**This is gonna be majority talking.**_

* * *

**Gathering the Facts.**

Everyone was gathered in the living room feeling either annoyed or awkward. Since Tony had shown that horrid video, Steve had refused to leave Lara's side. She was still incredibly pale.

Lara and Steve sat on the sofa across from Coulson and Skye. Steve had a glass of water in his hand incase Lara needed it again. Hunter was stood behind Skye, arms folded, looking rather bored. Bruce and Tony were standing to the side nearer the kitchen while Clint and Natasha were on the third sofa. Thor was stood in the same spot as when Coulson had entered.

"_Hydra don't have those weird swords then?" _asked Hunter trying to puncture the awkward atmosphere and getting the conversation moving again.

Lara shook her head again.

"_I'm not as stupid as your lovely wife thinks."_

"_She's not my..."_

"_Later. Why would Hydra want this, thingy?" _interrupted Coulson.

"_Actually, I think you owe the people present an explanation. Then I'll tell you about the Suum Aantah."_ Lara's voice was stern letting Coulson know she wasn't going to back down.

Tony glanced at Lara slightly confused. She hadn't known them that long but she was determined to help them get answers. He had gained a new found respect for her.

Coulson explained the best he could about what S.H.I.E.L.D had done to bring him back, only going further in detail if they asked. As he recounted his tale, others would sigh or gasp. Surprisingly Tony remained completely silent during the whole story, his eyes closed as he listened.

A new silence filled the room when Coulson had finished. Lara didn't know if she felt better or worse afterwards.

"_Lady Croft," _Lara groaned, _"Please? What is this artefact?"_

She cleared her throat before speaking.

"_The Summ Aantah. It's Mayan for cord or rope of air. It's said that it makes the wearer lighter than normal. I've read some books that also say it gives the wearer a great amount of speed."_

Coulson nodded in understanding, thinking over what she had said.

"_It is one of three."_

A new voice joined in the conversation. Thor was now stood behind Lara, his hands behind his back and his back straight. His face had relaxed a little but he was still unsure of how to react towards Coulson.

Coulson looked to Thor slightly confused, as did Lara. Seeing that even Lara didn't fully understand, Thor continued.

"_We have one of the others," _Lara oh'ed realising what he was referring to, "_The thrall controller. The other is a book."_

"_Hu'un Na'atik, the book of understanding."_ Lara rested her head on her chin, deep in thought.

Tony snorted, _"Ha, how cliché."_

Thor moved around the sofa and sat down at the other side of Lara.

"_Unfortunately I have no idea where the tome is located. What about you Lara? Have you come across it in your travels?"_

Steve nudged Lara out of her little thought bubble.

"_Er no. But I might know someone who has."_

Hunter sighed loudly drawing all eyes to him.

"_Not the crazy old Prof. He is determined to hook me up with his son and I don't even swing that way."_

Lara laughed remembering the last time she and Hunter had seen the Professor. They had been at the University of Chicago to find out about an old chinese god. Every so often, in between recounting the tale of the old god, the Professor would look at Hunter and deliberately ask about his sex life and show him pictures of his son. It was made worse by the fact the Professor had done it when his son had been there leading to a very uncomfortable moment between Hunter and the poor boy.

"_Professor George Pine. Anything I don't know about myths he does. So he will probably have a theory at least."_

"_Well it's nice to have a plan but what do all of these things do together?" _asked Bruce stepping towards the sofa.

Lara shrugged her shoulders and turned to face Thor.

"_The Suum Aantah gives speed, the Yuumil, the thrall controller, gives direction and power over others and the book explains how to use them both fully. Someone with all three of these items would be able to rule somewhere from behind the scenes and would be very hard to trace."_

Everyone exchanged understanding looks. If Hydra were to get a hold on all three, they would gain even more control than they already had. They would be able to manipulate leaders minds and shape the world to their vision making it really hard to identify who was in control of their own minds and who wasn't.

"_So Lara, where is this old geezer?"_ asked Tony clapping his hands together, a smile returning to his face.

"_What? You want all...ten of us to go? No. George is incredibly..."_

"_Crazy." _said Hunter rolling his eyes.

"_Paranoid. He knows Hunter and I but he will get side tracked if it's just us so..."_

Lara looked around the room debating on who would best make the Professor understand that it was a matter of great importance.

"_Thor. Thor will you come with us? He'll see you, get excited and then realise that it goes beyond me. Far beyond me."_ Thor smiled bowing his head slightly.

Lara looked Thor up and down. After all this time he was still wearing his Asguardian armour. Thor saw her examine him and raised an eyebrow.

"_I'm sorry but you'll stand out like a sore thumb in your Asguardian outfit."_

Clint and Hunter laughed loudly.

"_Ooh! Shopping trip!" _Clint mocked in the most girly way he could.

"_Thank you for volunteering Clint."_ said Natasha pushing him off of the sofa, giggling afterwards.

Clint stared at Natasha for a few moments before realising that she actually meant it. Sighing, Clint led Thor to the elevator and they left.

"_So where is this Professor now?" _questioned Skye.

Lara looked at Tony and gave him the sweetest smile she could.

"_Ok I'll find him since you smiled ever so nicely." _He winked at her before picking up his tablet and tapping away again.


	9. Chapter 9

**To The Professor.**

Hunter, Skye and Coulson stayed in Stark Tower that night. To say that the atmosphere for the rest of that day was weird would be an understatement. It was oddly quiet. Everyone kept themselves to themselves, trying to avoid looking at each other for too long.

To avoid the silent stares between people Lara remained in her room. She spent the evening watching films or reading and writing her journal. At around ten o'clock Steve poked his head around her bedroom door to check if she was alright before he went to bed. The tension between he and Lara had now, for the most part, gone. It was like their little moment didn't even happen.

Lara awoke early the next day at six o'clock, like she always did. She got a quick shower and dressed herself in a white t-shirt, tight black trousers and her favourite black boots.

She headed into the kitchen and found she wasn't the only one up. Tony was sat at the kitchen's island reading the news on his tablet.

"_Morning milady." _Lara turned slowly to face him, a small amused smile on her face,_ "I've found your friend. He's in Chicago."_

"_I would have thought you'd be the last one up."_ said Lara pouring some cereal into a bowl before heading to the refrigerator.

"_I'm full of surprises."_

They sat in silence for a few moments while Lara ate her breakfast before Tony spoke again.

"_I'm sorry."_

Lara nearly choked on her cereal.

"_For what?"_

"_Showing that video. It was..."_

She saw the pain in his eyes and reached over to put her hand on his.

"_You don't need to apologise Tony. You were friends with Coulson and he showed up out of the blue after you though he was dead. You were hurt."_

He gave her a half smile.

"_Thank you for getting him to explain it though."_

"_You all deserved the truth. Besides you agreed to help me so it was the least I could do." _

It was half an hour before anyone else was up. After she finished her cereal, Lara stayed at the island in the kitchen to talk to Tony. For the most part, the conversation consisted of Tony asking Lara about the Professor. At half six, Steve emerged.

Lara couldn't resist to look at him when he reached up to the top shelf for the cereal. His shirt lifted up as he did causing Lara to look and raise an eyebrow. Tony saw her and titled his head into her view. She quickly got up and went to the sofa trying to pretend that she didn't sneak a peek. She was soon joined by Tony and Steve.

One by one people were getting up.

Natasha was next up followed by Skye. Bruce emerged next, his hair a mess and just simply grunted his good morning. At half seven a lot of thudding, swearing, and laughing could be heard coming from Thor's room.

Everyone looked at each other wondering what the hell was going on. Clint and Hunter came half running and half falling down the corridor, a pillow following them.

"_I never thought that Thor falling over would be so funny!" _said Clint amongst spats of laughter.

"_He was putting on his trousers when..." _Hunter mock fell over making Clint laugh even harder.

Tony shot up and ran down the corridor, annoyed that he missed all the fun. Sighing, Bruce decided to follow him and actually lend Thor a hand.

Natasha and Skye went on to the balcony to finish their breakfast in peace, leaving Steve alone with Lara.

Lara was curled up the corner of the sofa reading a small book that Tony had given her. Steve was two seats away, sitting silently, his hands on his lap.

"_Erm Lara..."_

She looked up from her book to find that Steve had scooted along the sofa to sit closer to her.

"_If you, er, still want to talk, to talk about Alistair I'm still willing to listen." _He said quietly, never looking at her as he said it.

A slight smile crept its way to the side of Lara's mouth. But before she could answer Coulson walked in asking about all the noise. Steve stealthily shuffled away from Lara, explaining Thor's predicament acting like he had just been sat inches away from the British Archaeologist.

At around nine o'clock everyone one was up and ready to go. Thor, other than his mannerisms, would completely pass as a Midguardian. He had opted for a large grey jumper and deep blue jeans.

Everyone was gathered in the living room, near the elevator, as they went over little bits of information before Thor, Lara and Hunter set off for Chicago.

"_Er Thor? I'm sorry to do this to you but would you fly on the plane please? I'd like to explain the Professor to you a bit more."_

"_Absolutely Lara."_

Skye was having a conversation with Hunter while Tony and Clint were bullying Thor about his little fumble. Lara slyly made her way to Steve who was stood at the back of the group, behind Coulson, Natasha and Bruce.

"_Thank you Steve."_

He turned to her, eyebrows raised.

"_I...I need to talk about Alistair and I know you won't say anything that will make me feel worse. Yet you'll still give me a honest opinion." _She had practiced what she was going to say in her head but as she said it it came out all at once. She gave him a shy smile which he returned along with a small chuckle.

"_You don't need to thank me Lara." _He looked at his feet briefly as Thor and Hunter entered the elevator. They both watched as Hunter attempted to push Thor _"Please Lara stay on your guard."_

Steve looked Lara in her eyes, her beautiful bronze eyes.

"_Waiting on you Lara." _Hunters voice echoed through the crowd.

Lara put her hand on Steve's shoulder, giving him a small nod and a smile. Tony grabbed her by her arm and pretty much threw her into the elevator. The doors closed as Lara rubbed her arm, staring at Tony with thin eyes. Tony just stuck out his tongue.

Hunter, Thor and Lara were aboard Tony's private jet. In true Stark fashion it was the most teched out jet Lara had ever seen. There were lots of pointless accessories that had no place on a plane. Like a pole for example. Lara knew exactly what Stark would use that pole for.

They sat grouped together. Hunter stretched out on the long sofa, enjoying the luxury. Thor looked around the plane taking in everything. Everything just washed over Lara.

"_Thor you should know that George can be a little..." _Lara began.

"_Nuts?"_

"_No"_

"_Eccentric?"_

"_No, well yes, but shut up Hunter. He can be a little excitable."_

"_He will fan girl over you."_

Thor gave Hunter a confused look.

"_Fan girl. What's a fan girl?"_

"_A girl that goes..." _Hunter began to imitate a very happy, obsessive girl by waving his arms around and squealing.

At the sight of Hunter squealing and writhing in his seat like a pig on the spit, Thor turned to Lara, his eyes wide. Lara was laughing into her hand.

"_George won't do that." _Lara pointed at Hunter. _"Probably. He'll most likely just fire off a lot of questions that you won't even hear."_

Thor's faced relaxed and prayed that Lara was right and not Hunter.

For the rest of the flight Lara, Thor and Hunter exchanged stories and talking about the Professor. If they weren't exchanging tales Lara found herself thinking of Steve that morning, drawing a smile to her lips.

After a short taxi ride from the airport to the Professor's home, Lara made sure that Thor understood what Professor George Pine was like.

His home seemed to be like it was brought straight from the nineteen forties. The garden looked like it hadn't seen a lawnmower in years. Well apart from the rusted one that was lost amongst the tall grass. At the side of the house were several stacks of boxes full of water damaged papers and junk.

"_Are we sure Stark got it right?" _asked Hunter, scrunching up his nose to the horrid sewage smell.

"_Yep."_

Not even phased by the smell, Lara marched right up to the door and knocked loudly.

...

No answer.

She knocked again.

...

Still no answer.

"_Professor? Professor it's Lara. Lara and Hunter. You remember Hunter right?" _As she said the last bit she gave Hunter a playful smile. He gave her the bird, drawing an icy glare from Thor.

The sound of several locks being unlocked could be heard from behind the wooden door. It slowly opened to reveal a small silver haired old man peering up at them through his broken glasses.

"_I thought I told you to fix those." _Lara said pointing at his glasses. "I even gave you money to do it."

The Professor's face lit up when he saw Hunter and he quickly let them all, including Thor, inside.

"_I found a nice little antique shop selling the most delightful little glass swans." _His voice was unusually high pitched for a man yet it still managed to be gravelly.

His house was filled to the brim with little trinkets and massive piles of books. With the size of Thor, he had to try even harder not to knock anything over. The Professor led them into what they thought was once a dining room.

"_What can I do you for Little Miss Croft?" _As he spoke his eyes began to cross causing him to blink a few times, returning them to their original position.

"_Professor this is...well this is Thor." _She gave the Professor a look of both pride and realisation. For some reason it only really hit her now that she was stood in a room with the Norse god of thunder himself.

The Professor slowly looked up at Thor. And looked up was the exact thing he did. The Professor was smaller than Lara, who only came halfway up Thor's bicep. The Professor barely reached Thor's elbow.

"_Thor? Thor! In my home?!" _The Professor let out a loud chuckle spinning on the spot before shouting, _"The mighty Thor!"_

"_Oooh what exactly is the Bifrost made from? How does the magic in Mjolnir work? How do you control lightning? Is Lady Sif single?" _he rolled off the questions without taking a breath. As he asked the last question he rapidly raised his eyebrows.

Thor gave a deep small chuckle. _"Please Professor, we need your help."_

He clapped his hands together. Lara shook her head smiling.

"_George we need to find the Hu'un Na'atik as soon as we can. I only know a little."_ Lara leaned, as much as she dared, on the table in front of her. It looked like it was about to break under the weight of a whole load of books and boxes.

With surprising speed for a man his age, nearing his eighties, he made room on the table before slamming down a map of Asia. As he did so he muttered to himself. All they could hear was the odd word like Hunter, son, Thor and Mayans. Hunter, Lara and Thor gathered around the map. Hunter made sure he was as far away from the Professor as he could.

The map had lots of crosses in different colours on it. Most of the crosses had been scribbled out. The Professor began to cross reference one book with another and then began to draw on the map in a bright red marker.

After he added a few more crosses, he began looking around the room.

"_Ruler. I need a ruler." _he said his his high pitched voice.

All of them began searching for something straight. Thor managed to pull down a long thin wooden stick from behind a large bookshelf.

The Professor said thank you more times than Thor could count as he drew lines between the various crosses on the map. The various lines indicated to three different areas on the map all in Indonesia.

The Professor looked up at Lara all happy with himself. Hunter got out his phone and took a photo of each key point to send it to Tony. He was about to take a photo of the last area when a gun shot rang out.


	10. Chapter 10

**Fork In The Road.**

The Professor looked up at Lara all happy with himself. Hunter got out his phone and took a photo of each key point to send it to Tony. He was about to take a photo of the last area when a gun shot rang out.

The Professor stumbled and fell to the floor.

"_George!"_ shouted Lara.

Without hesitation everyone hit the deck, seeking the nearest cover. Which, with the state of the Professor's home, wasn't hard.

The front door was kicked down and men clad fully in black streamed in, their guns drawn. As they entered the living room Lara punched the nearest guard in the face, grabbing his gun with the other hand and pulled. The gun was tethered around his neck so when she pulled it down his head went with it. She seized that opportunity and kneed him in the head.

Thor was throwing the masked men around like it was nothing. No matter how hard they swung at him it just didn't do anything. For a guy his size, he was surprisingly fast. When they tried to fire at Thor he simply swatted the gun away.

Some of the guards had sprinted for the map. Hunter grabbed the nearest thing he could, the wooden stick that the Professor used as his ruler, and swung it with all his might clouting one of the guards on his temple. He fell with a thud on to the table sending the items on it flying. Including the map.

Hunter glanced at the map, then at one of the masked men, then back at the map. He dove for it but in the middle of the fight it was kicked away leaving him to struggle and exchange blows with the guard.

Lara was now being attacked by two men at once as the majority of the mysterious guards attempted to pin down Thor.

One man had Lara grabbed by the arms as the other repeatedly hit her in the stomach. Seeing that the map was kicked closer to her, Lara felt a surge of adrenaline. She thrusted her head back making contact with the guards nose with a chilling crunch. She kicked the man in front of her in the stomach, a little payback, before striking him on the jaw.

She sprinted for the map but was tackled to the ground. She landed directly on her elbow sending a shooting pain all the way up her arm.

A pair of black military boots appeared in her partially blocked vision. It was partially blocked by the floor and all the junk on it. The man bent down until she could see his features clearly.

She instantly recognised the gelled black hair, the chiselled jaw line and the auburn eyes. It was Gellis.

"_Why thank you Miss Croft."_

She fought to get to him, struggling because of the weight of another on top of her.

Gellis only laughed in her face as Thor and Hunter were still mid fight. He looked into her eyes one last time before kicking her in the head. Blood began to drip from her hair line as Gellis called his agents away, grabbing the map as he left.

Hunter was bleeding from his chest. One of the guards had taken a swing at him with a knife, he had managed to dodge most it. Thor looked dishevelled at most.

An eerie silence filled the crammed house as Lara gently tapped her head searching for the wound, cringing when she found it. Upon realising that they were now alone and alive, for some reason, fear spread through Lara's body.

"_George!"_

She stumbled to her feet searching for the Professor. She saw Hunter and Thor already around him. As she approached the elderly gentleman shot up, smiling.

"_Oh ho! What a rush! Is that what you go through daily Lara? There is life in this old dog yet!" _He was sat up thrusting his hands in the air, oblivious to the confused looks on Thor, Hunter and Lara's faces.

"_Cough up old man." _demanded Hunter, folding his arms but a smirk on his face.

The old crone's smile grew wider as he pulled out a thick tea tray from beneath his shirt. There was a single dent in it where the bullet hit. Even with the map gone Lara couldn't hold back a smile let alone a laugh.

"_So what now Lara?" _Asked Thor helping the Professor to his feet.

"_I think I remember where the last mark was. Do you have anywhere you can go George?"_

Both the Professor and Hunter laughed loudly.

"_Of course he does." _

"_Of course I do." _Hunter and the Professor spoke simultaneously, _"It's a nice little bunker on the outskirts of the city. It's got all the amenities."_

Thor looked at Lara as if to ask if her was telling the truth. Lara just rolled her eyes.

After bidding farewell and good luck to the Professor, Lara, Hunter and Thor headed back to the airport. Apparently as well as being a genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist, Tony Stark was psychic.

While waiting for Tony's plane to be prepped, Lara felt her, somehow un-smashed, phone vibrate. She pulled it out of her pocket and sighed before answering.

"_Hello?"_

"_Hi, can I order the biggest pizza you got? The green machines got a huge appetite." _She could just imagine the size of Tony's grin.

"_Hilarious Tony."_

"_How'd it go?" _Natasha chimed in. Apparently she was on speaker phone.

"_I was right, George had a theory. Well, three possible locations for the book."_

"_I"m sensing a but here."_ butted in Tony.

"_BUT Hydra decided to show their annoying faces." _she whispered to avoid being over heard in the busy airport. Hunter was explaining the different things you had to go through normally in the airport to Thor.

"_Are you all right?" _Steve asked, the worry evident in his voice.

"_Small cuts and bruises but fine."_

"_Yes you are."_

"_Shut up Tony."_

"_Aw is red jealous...I'll shush now."_

Lara laughed to herself, praying that Natasha had slapped him.

"_We'll fly back and come up with a plan from there."_

She heard several yes's and ok's from the other end of the phone.

Back in New York, and with their cuts tended to, Lara, Hunter and Thor were bombarded by questions. Lara answered most of them the best should could. Tony persistently asked _how did Hydra know_ which was a question Lara was wondering herself but couldn't answer.

Tony led everyone to a large table that he tapped on. A hologram map of the world appeared in it's blue splendour. Using the photo's that Hunter had sent him Tony had already marked two of the three locations leaving Lara to mark the third.

Lara was stood next to Tony but across from Natasha. At the other side if Lara was Coulson then Steve. Between Steve and Natasha was Skye and the other side of Natasha was Clint followed by Hunter then Thor.

She zoomed in on Indonesia and examined it for a while, closing her eyes to see a clear image of the map in her head.

"_There abouts...I think." _she said as she drew a cross on the map.

They all looked at the map for a moment. One of the crosses was in the more mountainous area to the north. The second was in the forest area in the centre of Indonesia. The third was more to the west coast.

"_We should split into teams then to cover them all at the same time." _suggested Bruce.

Tony nodded clapping his hands together _"C'mon, Cap you're the strategic one."_

Steve looked up from the map, glancing between everyone.

"_Ok. Erm. We'll need someone who can cover more of the mountains so Tony, Bruce..."_

"_You mean Hulk." _interjected Bruce.

"_Bruce, and Thor. You cover the mountains."_

They nodded to each other, agreeing with Steve's plan.

"_Natasha, Clint you cover the forest,"_ Tony laughed mumbling something about a bird and his nest, _"Miss Skye can you go with them please?"_

"_Sure."_

"_That leaves myself, Hunter and Lara with the coast."_

Natasha gave Lara a quick wink gaining an thin glare back.

"_What about me?" _

Coulson. He had forgotten Coulson. Steve looked awkwardly between Coulson and Tony.

"_He can come with us." _chimed in Tony.

Coulson slowly turned to face him, an eyebrow raised.

"_Don't worry, one of us will carry you. Honestly I think Thor might appreciate having you nearby."_

Lara smiled, lowering her head. _"More like you."_ The only one to hear this was Tony himself who gave her a playful shove.

"_Righto. Rest for today then we'll head out tomorrow. Friday can you book us all flights at different times. Don't want Hydra seeing us all on the same plane."_

"_Certainly Sir."_

Gradually everyone went to do their own things whether that was to tinker, Bruce and Tony, to watch TV, Hunter, Clint and Skye or to talk in the kitchen, Steve, Coulson and Thor. Well, Thor went to devour what food he could find. That left Lara and Natasha still stood at the hologram.

Natasha lent on the table staring at Lara with a playful smile on her face. She stalked her way around the table, running her hand along the edge. Lara desperately tried not to meet her eyes knowing exactly what she was going to say.

"_Sooo?" _started Natasha.

"_Don't."_

"_Don't what?"_

"_You know what."_

"_Hmm. He paired you with him."_

"_So I heard."_

"_He was also the first to ask if you were injured."_

"_Your point?"_

"_I think he has a soft spot for you."_

"_You're imagining things Nat."_

"_I also noticed you slink to the back of the group before you left just to talk to him."_

Lara sighed, _"God I hate you." _she said before walking away to her room. Natasha laughed as she followed her, Lara feeling like a teenage girl getting pestered by her younger sister.


	11. Chapter 11

**20 Hour Flight.**

Just as Tony had requested, Friday had purchased plane tickets for all of them with the exception of Tony, Bruce, Thor and Coulson. The mountain team had gone in Tony's jet and left first. The forest team left second on a very early flight as the coastal team were only waiting on Hunter to get his lazy arse out of bed. He said he could lay in as their flight wasn't until twelve.

Lara, Steve and Hunter were on a packed passenger plane. There were all of the typical things on board from sick passengers to screaming children. The cabin crew shimmied their way through the aisles offering ridiculously priced food and drinks to the over heated passengers.

Because the flight was so full Friday only managed to get two seats next to each other. Steve and Lara took these seats while Hunter was on the opposite side. Even with the upset children wailing their heads off and one very upset seven year old constantly kicking the back of his seat, Hunter was sound asleep. The man could sleep through an earthquake.

If you saw him you would have thought he hadn't slept for days. His head was tilted back and his mouth was open with a bit of saliva dribbling out of his mouth. He had managed to stretched his legs out in the tiny space he had.

Lara and Steve sat there in silence as the plane took off. Lara had one leg propped up on the seat as she looked out of the small window she was sat next to. Steve was lent back in his chair, his back straight and his eyes closed. Neither of them asked for anything not wanting to disturb the crew members who had their hands full as it was.

Occasionally they shifted in their seats glancing at each other and smiling as they got comfy. It was all they could do on a 20 hour flight with no televisions.

What Lara didn't know was that Steve was arguing with himself inside his head. He was debating whether or not now was the time to talk about Alistair. They had the time and even with the noise they wouldn't be over heard giving them some level of privacy.

Every time he looked at her she was staring dreamily out of the window she was next to, watching the clouds float by. He watched her for a moment, admiring her beauty as she rested her head on her knee, a smiling curling at her lips.

He could always ask her if she wanted to talk and if she said not now at least she knew he was still willing to listen.

That was it, his mind was made up.

"_Erm Lara?" _He lent over to her slightly, shifting uncomfortably in his seat.

She turned to face him smiling. Her long glorious brown hair was plaited loosely and swept over her shoulder. She looked at him with her captivating mahogany eyes, moving a piece of her fringe out of her way.

Steve's heart began to beat faster.

"_What's up?"_

"_It's a, it's a long flight so do you, do you want to talk? I mean we can if you want to but if you don't it's ok. I'm not going to force you." _He took a deep breath at the end of his speedy question, rubbing the back of his neck.

Her smile dropped a little but her gaze held firm. Lara thought it over for a moment before nodding slightly.

She took a breath before telling Steve what kind of person Alistair was. Lara told him that Alistair and Zip had a love hate relationship. Alistair hated Zip for the pointless information he would spit out and Zip loved to annoy Alistair with the pointless information he would spit out.

Lara told him many different anecdotes ranging from the thrilling conversations she had had with Alistair to the little arguments he had had with Zip that made Lara chuckle and nearly fall to her death while she was out in the middle of nowhere.

As she spoke her heart began to beat faster. She explained in more detail what happened in Atlantis and on board Amanda's ship. Lara grew angry as it finally, after so many months, clicked that Natla, the Atlantian goddess, had not only played her but Amanda and Lara's father as well.

"_All of us. That...bitch played all of us. And my father was the only one wise enough to see it."_

Steve could hear the anger on every word. He knew that anger wasn't directed at Natla but Lara herself.

"_You were driven to find your mother. No one would blame you."_

Lara scoffed before mumbling, _"I blame me."_

That was it. She broke down. She had finally voiced what she had thought for the past year. The tears were streaming down her soft cheeks. No matter how much she tried, the tears just wouldn't stop.

"_Steve, it's my fault Alistair's gone. If I hadn't..."_

"_Stop."_

"_If I hadn't been so selfish he would..."_

"_STOP!"_

Steve had cupped her chin again to force her to look at him. He stared directly into her eyes, his eyes and voice were firm.

"_You are **not** to blame. Alistair knew what your life was like and he **chose** to help you. By what you've said there wasn't anything that you could have done to stop it. This, doppelgänger, was much faster than you and you're fast. I know."_

Steve gave her a small smile that she returned. Lara's sobbing had slowed down seeing Steve meant every word.

"_You are a beautiful, brave woman who would do anything to help someone who needed it. You should be proud of your achievements and not wallow in the could-have-beens."_

Lara's smile had grown. He really thought all of that about her. Her mind was fixed on a certain word.

Beautiful. He said beautiful. _Steve_ said beautiful. A little image of Natasha appeared in Lara's head saying I told you so.

Lara looked at her feet wiping the remaining tears from her face. She felt Steve put his arm around her and pull her closer, resting his chin on her head.

"_Thank you." _She whispered looking back into his charming blue eyes.

It was happening again and once again, both were oblivious to it. They were slowly getting closer to each other still fixated by each others mesmerising eyes. They were millimetres away when the plane had some rather rough turbulence.

The were literally shaken apart causing them to headbut each other. They turned to face the front again rubbing their heads.

The awkward silence between the two filled the air again. They sat staring in opposite directions not knowing the other had a smile on their face. Steve had both of his hands on the arm rests and was looking around the plane, looking everywhere but Lara, his heart pounding in his chest. Lara was looking out the window again with one of her legs tucked up to her chest. She was not looking at or thinking about the clouds.

About an hour later Lara decided to take a nap. She lent her chair back as far as she dare and turned her body to face Steve. He stole a glance at her to see what she was doing. Lara got into a comfy position before resting her head against Steve's shoulder.

His head snapped to her look confused. Her eyes were closed and there was a smile curling at her lips that she was desperately trying to hide it. That smile grew bigger when she laced her fingers with Steve's.

Steve's heart began to flutter and he was utterly powerless to contain the grin he was attempting to hide. He laughed quietly to himself before leaning his chair back, laying his head atop of Lara's and catching some shut eye.

He tightened the grip on Lara's hand.


	12. Chapter 12

**A Quaint Little Village.**

They landed in Indonesia and quickly boarded another plane to head towards a rural village by the sea. The second plane trip was far worse than the first. The plane had flimsy wings, worn seats and swayed at the slightest breeze. Hunter stayed firmly awake for that flight.

It was the dark of night when they landed. Steve held his and Lara's bags as she looked over the map.

"_Where are we staying? I'm tired."_

Steve and Lara turned to face Hunter with astonished looks upon their faces. He had slept for most of the time on the 20 hour flight over to Indonesia. How was he still tired?

"_What?" _a cheeky smile spread across his face that turned into a large yawn.

Rolling her eyes, Lara led the way. They walked along the half dirt, half stone roads in darkness with only Lara's torch to light the path until they saw a dimly lit village before them. All they could hear as they walked the streets were the sound of the wind brushing the trees and the odd hoot from amongst the surrounding forest.

Eventually they found a small Bed and Breakfast and, much to Hunters relief, it was still open. It was worn and crumbling but it was the best they had. Inside wasn't much better. The faded pink paint on the walls were peeling away and the desk had duct tape wrapped around two of the legs.

Lara walked up to the reception and lightly rung the bell not wanting to wake any of the other possible customers. An old woman appeared from the back. Her greying hair was tied in a messy bun and judging by the look on her face she had been sound asleep. As she shuffled towards them she tied her dressing gown around her beige nighty.

"_How may I help you?" _she asked politely, her voice completely contradicting her appearance. It was sweet like a stereotypical old lady.

"_We know it's late ma'am but..." _started Steve.

"_Ma'am? Golly no one has called me ma'am for so long. Am I safe to assume you three would like a room?"_ She gave Steve a small but toothy smile as she tried to keep her eyes open.

Steve smiled back, giving her a little nod.

"_Well we only have two rooms left if I remember rightly," _she said, scratching her head as she flicked over the pages in a leathery book, _"a room with a double bed and another with a single."_

They waited as she pulled out a pair of glasses from her dressing gown pocket.

"_But you young man," _She pointed at Steve, _"can share with your girlfriend. And your friend can have the single room, if that's alright?"_

Hunter had turned away to hide his smirk pretending to admire the room. Lara and Steve were looking at her wide eyed for a moment, an awkward silence filled the air. Well, Steve did have ahold of her bags.

"_Erm sure that's...that's fine." _mumbled Lara as the lady's eyes began to switch between her and Steve, wondering if she had put her foot in it.

Lara's eyes were firmly fixed on the book, her face feeling warm, as the lady began writing in their names. Just in case, they had chosen to give her fake names. Hunter became Josh Fitz, Steve became James Falsworth while Lara took the mantle of Anya West.

Steve and Lara's room was far cosier than they had hoped. The room was so small it only just fitted the bed in. The décor was just as bad in the room as it was in the reception. The only thing different was the colour of the paint. It was a dirty cream colour in here that had been further yellowed by someone smoking. The wardrobe was a tiny little closest to the right of the door.

They were stood in the small space behind the door. Lara watched, her eyebrows raised slightly amused, as Steve's mouth kept opening and closing as if he wanted to say something. The awkward silence from the reception followed them into the bedroom.

"_You realise that there is no way that one of us can sleep anywhere else." _said Lara quietly.

Steve faced Lara and found her now staring at the bed. He gave a little awkward chuckle before facing the bed again, unsure of what to say.

"_What are we going to do?"_ he murmured, also staring at the bed.

The following moment felt like it lasted an eternity. The could hear the small alarm clock ticking the time away.

Steve heard Lara exhale heavily before he felt her soft hand on his face. His eyes widened as he felt his body being spun to face her. He felt both of her hands on his face and soon after, her plump lips lingering on his. Steve dropped the bags in his hands as his entire body went numb.

She pulled back, eyes wide.

"_I'm sorry I...I..."_

She began to back up, her face growing red with embarrassment.

When what just happened actually set it, Steve strode forward and grabbed her waist with one hand and her left hand with the other, pulling her back towards him making her chest collide with his. Instead of thinking, Steve let his instincts take control. He placed his hand on her soft cheek and brushed his lips against hers. Lara smiled as she kissed back, placing her hands back onto his face, both Lara and Steve's eyes closed tight as they embraced.

Lara and Steve were waiting in the reception for Hunter. They were sat on the bench opposite the desk. They were sat incredibly close looking like the cat that had got the cream.

The lady from the night before, at Lara's request, had agreed to pour some water over Hunter's head to get him out of bed. Apparently at the age of 78 she still hand a playful streak.

A few minutes later Hunter arrived looking really disgruntled. Lara and Steve couldn't help but laugh when he descended the stairs, his hair wet.

They spent the day walking around the village asking about any myths or stories that anyone knew. They found nothing. Most of the villagers didn't really understand what they were asking, even if Lara was speaking in Indonesian.

At midday Hunter was complaining that he was completely parched. They found a delightful little cafe by the sea near the market. Lara and Steve sat beside each other at a table while Hunter got them drinks.

"_We're getting nowhere." _stated Hunter as he sat down, passing Steve and Lara their drinks.

"_You have to bare in mind that we a strangers to them so they probably won't trust us."_ answered Lara, not looking up as she stirred her drink.

"_How else are we supposed to look for this Book of Understanding? X-ray vision."_ snapped Hunter, still slightly sour about the way he was woken up.

"_Excuse me folks, but were you talking about the Hu'un Na'atik?"_

All three of their faces shot up to look at the person who spoke. A man with a apron around is waist was stood at the end of the table.

Lara quickly looked at Steve and Hunter. _"Erm yes. Do you know anything about it?"_

The man sat next to Hunter clearly eager to say his story.

"_It's said that the cave a while down the beach holds a dangerous beast. A beast that guards a forbidden treasure."_

A smile spread across his face as Hunter rolled his eyes.

"_The forbidden treasure is not only guarded by that ferocious beast but also within a devilish maze."_

"_Sounds like the minotaur bull crap." _interrupted Hunter.

"_Wow, surprised you knew that Hunter. Please sir carry on." _bit back Lara.

"_We believe that cave has brought us nothing but bad luck. Our cattle die frequently and our crops barely bloom."_

They sat there in silence as the man looked solemnly at the other venders.

"_Can you show us where this cave is?" _asked Steve, pulling the man out of his own world.

"_Yes. If you will destroy this beast for us."_

Lara nodded, a little more hope spreading into her heart. Now they finally had another lead.

"_Perfect. I will show you where it is after work. If you will return at six this evening I will take you then." _He began to walk away before turning back again, _"Oh my name is Kulan."_

"_Hi I'm Lara, this is Steve and that is Hunter. Shall we meet you here?" _asked Lara, standing up to shake his hand.

He nodded as he shook her hand before turning to go back to the bar where a few customers waited for him.

They briefly discussed what they would do for the rest of the day. Hunter suggested to spend the rest of the day chilling. Steve thought it would be best to survey the area just incase something goes wrong then would have an escape plan. Lara didn't really care what they did in the meantime.

For a few moments they sat there admiring the scenery. They watched as the sea lapped up the beach, the children playing happily. Many of the local people filtered through the market haggling for random trinkets and fruit.

Suddenly Lara stood up leaving her empty glass behind. Steve looked up at her wondering what she was doing. Hunter, however, was looking elsewhere.

"_I'm going for a walk. You coming?" _stated Lara, bored of the silence.

"_Er...yeah sure." _Steve also rose from his seat. _"Hunter?"_

"_Na, I'll stay here. I'll meet you back at the B&amp;B at 4 o'clock."_ Hunter was staring firmly, looking at a girl at the bar.

Lara saw what Hunter was looking at and sighed, rolling her eyes as she and Steve headed towards the beach. Hunter failed to notice how close they were walking to each other as they began to walk down the beach. They were walking so close that their shoulders were brushing against each other.

Gulping down the rest of his drink, Hunter stood up heading over to the girl at the bar. He plopped himself beside her.

"_I take it you were bored on the bus huh?"_

The girl put her book flat on the bar, marking her page. Her long light brown hair was flowing down her back. She was wearing a tight white shirt and green cargo trousers. It was Bobbi Moorse.

"_I hated being left behind. That and May asked me to tail you guys. Where's Skye?" _she asked.

"_In a forest somewhere with Hawkeye and Black Widow while I'm stuck here with America's 95 year old poster boy."_

They stared at each other trying to read what the other was thinking.

"_Aww were you scared Lara might steal me away from you Bob?" _jested Hunter, taking a sip from his new drink.

Bobbi slowly raised an eyebrow, a knowing smirk spreading across her beautiful face. She lent in close to him causing him to lean in closer too.

"_She clearly has eyes for someone else."_ she whispered.

Hunter sat back, the look of confusion etched onto his face.

"_Ugh men." _she rolled her eyes and picked up her book off of the table.

They were silent as Hunter was trying to figure out what Bobbi meant. As it began to click into place he kept looking back to the table he was sat at. Eventually his eyes grew wide.

"_Wait do you...do you mean Lara and Rogers? Ha yeah right. Lara tends to go for the more dangerous guys not the safest guy on the planet."_

Bobbi never moved but chuckled to herself.

"_You see what you see and I see what I see." _she said plainly flicking over the page in her book with a smug look on her face as Hunter stared at her in disbelief.


	13. Chapter 13

**Typical Tomb.**

The sun was setting over the small quaint village. Lara had returned to the B&amp;B to get changed into her iconic brown shorts and blue tank top. Steve had decided that he would also get changed. Both were far too experience to think that their little trip into an unknown cave would go smoothly. Hunter, however, stayed in his jeans and jacket.

As the sun sank behind the surrounding sea of green trees, Lara, Steve and Hunter we're waiting at the cafe for the owner to return. A chill wind was whistling around them, sending shivers up their spines. The cold water was lapping noisily onto the beach. Lara was beginning to regret wearing her shorts.

At 7 o'clock they heard footsteps approaching from out of the darkness. Lara and Steve looked up while Hunter kept his gaze locked to the floor.

In the little light that was alighting the small cafe, they could see a slender figure. It was a tall delicate person with long flowing hair, definitely not Kulan. Lara rolled her eyes when the figure stepped into the light.

"_Lara."_

"_Barbara."_

They greeted each other coldly, with absolutely no emotion on their faces.

Steve looked from Lara to Bobbi in confusion. Hunter was still looking at the floor.

"_Why are you here?" _asked Lara, folding her arms to keep in the heat as well as in annoyance at Bobbi's presence.

A cocky smile curled at Bobbi's mouth.

"_May asked me to keep track of Coulson. That and Hunter asked..."_

"_Don't drag me into this!" _shouted Hunter, throwing his hands up in the air as a sign of innocence.

Before Lara could retort Kulan appeared.

"_I am sorry I am late. Ah you have a new companion. Follow me."_

Kulan walked in a fast pace, eager to get to the cave as fast as he could. He led them along the beach, avoiding the angry, cold water. The evening chill was even worse when they walked underneath a small rocky arch. The wind seemed to swirl in circles creating a sort of vacuum of cold air.

Bobbi and Hunter were walking just behind Kulan, deep in what seemed to be an argument, as Lara and Steve walked after them.

Steve noticed Lara shiver and slyly stepped closer to her. Lara looked up at him, half confused, and a smile curled at her mouth as she remembered the night before. He put his arm around her and began to rub her arms trying to keep her warm.

They couldn't separate quick enough when Kulan shouted.

"_Here! This is the cave. I'm sorry but I can not go in."_

Kulan was stood as far back from the cave as her could. He was shaking but not from the cold.

"_It's all right Kulan. Thank you for showing us, we'll do what we can."_

Kulan bowed low before quickly heading back the way they came leaving the four of them stood there in an awkward silence, Steve and Lara stood a fair distance apart.

"_One of us should stay outside." _said Bobbi confidently, walking a little closer to the entrance.

Lara immediately shot her down.

"_No. If it goes really deep, which it probably will, we will lose contact to the one on the surface. That and we don't know what is inside so the more eyes the better."_

Lara gained a little bit of satisfaction with the look on Bobbi's face. That only grew when both Steve and Hunter agreed.

The cave was exactly what you think it would have been. It was damp, cold and windy. If they thought the wind outside was cold, it was ten times worse in here as the water on the wall was blown on them and then blown again on their skin sending shivers up their spines.

Lara was leading the pack, her torch lighting the way. Steve was following close behind her and behind him were Bobbi and Hunter. The cave walls were remarkably unexceptional. There were no hints of any previous civilisations.

The cavern was weaving left and right, ascending and descending, leaving the more unexperienced of the group slightly disorientated. They had walked for at least 10 minutes before coming upon a very large mayan door.

With new life and excitement Lara began examining the door, running her fingers over the intricate carvings. The others weren't much help. Their knowledge of anything was damn near none existent.

Bobbi took this chance to try to make Lara feel small. Every so often Lara could hear the distinct sound of Bobbi tutting. She managed to ignore the first few times but not even Lara could put up with the amount Bobbi tutted.

"_Will you stop please?"_ Lara's voice was stern, her eyes thin.

Bobbi shrugged her shoulders and turned away as Lara began to look over the wall at the side of the door. She found a small gap with a breeze flowing through it. Without hesitation, and the urge to show Bobbi up, Lara slid her hand into the gap. At the end she felt a rope of some kind.

Lara turned to face Bobbi with a very proud look on her face. She pulled the length of rope. The Mayan door began to rumble and slide up sending small quakes through the ground.

With caution filling them all again they carefully stepped into the tomb. As you would expect with any tomb it was littered with spiders, cobwebs and the decaying remains of others who came before.

Hunter audibly shivered.

"_God I hate tombs. They're so damn creepy."_

Being the only one with a decent light source Lara edged forward making sure she lit up as much of the room as she could. The floor was cobbled and damp while the walls were carved and mossy.

As Lara stepped forward the others began to fan out. You could have dropped a pin and it would have echoed throughout the entire tomb. The only sound they did hear was the sound of a pressure plate lowering.

Bobbi's eyes darted down.

"_Take cover!" _Shouted Steve as darts were shot at them from all around.

Lara ran straight for Bobbi tackling her to the ground. Both of the women were still in the line of fire of the darts.

"_Come on."_

Not waiting for an answer Lara grabbed Bobbi's arm lifting her to her feet and pulling her to a small gap in the wall. The women managed to squeeze into the gap as the dart trap picked up speed.

"_Thanks."_

"_Your welcome."_

Bobbi was holding her arm as a small amount of blood trickled down. Lara wiggled around pulling her bag from her back. She pulled out a medipack and began to patch up Bobbi.

From their little hole Lara and Bobbi could see that Steve and Hunter had gotten to safety. The darts began to die down as the traps were emptying.

Tentatively they stepped out watching where they were walking.

"_I take it that's normal for a tomb then." _said Steve as they re-grouped in the middle.

Lara smiled and rolled her eyes as Hunter raised his.

Their troubles didn't end there either. A loud click rung through the cold stone room. Their hearts jumped up to their chests as the floor began to fall away from behind them.

"_RUN!" _bellowed Lara.

The others didn't need convincing. Unfortunately as the ran for the door at the opposite end the dart trap were reloaded and began to unload on the group. They dived and dodged this way and that maintaining the unstoppable sprint for the door.

It only got worse from there. The door slowly started to close as the folding floor was catching up to them. Steve and Lara were in front. Steve, because of the super soldier serum and Lara because of her training and experience.

They dived through the closing door, rolling on the floor. Steve, unintentionally, rolled and landed on top of Lara, her legs beside his, his chest on top of hers. Hunter and Bobbi weren't too far behind them.

As Hunter stood up he saw Lara and Steve awkwardly get off each other. Bobbi chuckled quietly to herself as she saw Hunter's look of realisation.

They all gathered themselves before proceeding through the heavily trapped Mayan tomb.


	14. Chapter 14

_**Please don't take this as I don't like Bobbi because I do. I think she is a badass.**_

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**Everything is on a Timer.**

This room felt as cold and as damp as the one before. The only difference being that there was barely any light. The only light source was a beam coming from the ceiling to the right of the door they came through. That golden beam of light was shining onto something that was elevated but from where they were stood they couldn't tell what it was.

Lara began to feel her pockets searching for her torch. When she couldn't find it she searched in her backpack just incase she subconsciously put it away.

"_Damn."_

She couldn't find it. Lara figured she must of lost it when she dived at Bobbi during the dart trap. There was no way of getting it back as the door back was firmly shut.

Being the experienced archaeologist that she was, Lara's eyes had gotten used to adjusting quickly to the lack of light. She told the others to stay exactly where they were as she cautiously made her way down the dark steps in front of them.

When she reached the bottom she turned right and climbed a ladder up to the source of light. The ladder was an old rickety thing that felt like it was going to snap at any moment. Luckily Lara had caught a break and managed to get to the top with no issues.

Steve, Hunter and Bobbi waited a few moments. All they could hear was each other breathing. Someone had a blocked nose.

A loud creak echoed through the stone chamber. Lara now came into view as she was moving what appeared to be a mirror. She moved it so that the light shone just in front of the others.

"_Aw this is gonna be like a puzzle or something isn't it?"_ whined Hunter loud enough for Lara to hear. Even though they couldn't see her features clearly Bobbi knew that Lara had just rolled her eyes as she had just done the same.

"_Lara can you shine the light around the room so we know what's in here?"_ asked Steve.

She did as Steve asked. The light glided across the room illuminating the high walls beneath. The room was a maze, literally a maze. A maze that they had to get through in the dark. In the centre, however, was a clean path to the door opposite.

As Lara shined the light they saw that at either ends of the two sides of the maze was a lever. Each side had it's own obstacles. The left hand side appeared to have a lot of hanging rope and pits. The right hand side had a lot of towering levels with little nooks missing.

"_There is writing above the door."_ Lara pulled out her binoculars as she left the light shining above the door,_ "Alone we are nothing but together the way opens."_

"_So the levers need to be pulled at the same time." _stated Bobbi.

"_Lara, I will be able to get to one of the switches."_ said Steve.

"_Well yeah, you're the super solider."_ mumbled Hunter.

"_I'll do the other."_ announced Bobbi, slapping Hunter on his shoulder.

Lara nodded an led the light to the left hand side. Bobbi followed the light signalling that she would handle that side. As Bobbi moved forward Lara tracked her with the light.

With light feet and grace Bobbi swung on the ropes and jumped over the pits with ease. Lara had forgotten how good Bobbi was and couldn't help but respect her skills even if they didn't see eye to eye.

Once Bobbi was in place at the lever, Lara moved the light back to Steve to guide him to the right hand side. Steve quickly bounded up and down the jagged walls he had to overcome. Lara had trouble keeping up with him. Given the tomb was so old every so often the wall would crumble but Steve swiftly grabbed another section of the maze.

With both Bobbi and Steve in place Lara moved Hunter to the door on the far wall just in case.

"_THREE, TWO, ONE, PULL!"_ Shouted Lara as she could see them both ready at their levers.

A very heavy click reverberated through the cold stone chamber. The braziers above them suddenly lit up alighting the room in an orange glow. The walls of the mazes began to lower as the door began to open. The clicking didn't stop.

"_Of course we're on a timer! RUN!" _yelled Lara getting annoyed.

Lara slid down the ladder. As she neared the bottom the ladder snapped sending her to the floor. Luckily Lara landed on her feet and sprinted for the door. Bobbi and Steve were ahead of her. Bobbi turned as she reached Hunter on the other side of the door.

As the clicking continued, an earth shattering blast utterly destroyed the door the came through. Lara was blown to the floor by the shockwave alone. Steve spun around to run back to her.

Hydra had arrived. They rushed into the chamber with their guns drawn and immediately began firing on them. There were far too many for them to fight.

Bobbi and Hunter began firing back giving Steve and Lara as much cover as they could.

"_Get up and run!"_ bellowed Bobbi as she shot down a Hydra agent who had edged forward.

Lara started to get to her feet again when a almighty burning pain shot through her leg. Blood was gushing out. She had been shot through her leg but the bullet hadn't gone the whole way through. Steve darted behind her, holding his shield up in defence.

As his shield bounced the bullets away, Steve helped Lara get to her feet. She threw her arm around his neck and he began to back up to the door slowly.

The door itself had begun to close. They were running out of time. Hunter and Bobbi started to blind fire hoping to make the agents to retreat as Steve and Lara stumbled past the nearly closed door.

As soon as they got through Lara unhooked herself from Steve's shoulder and flopped down onto the floor. She crawled out of harms way as Steve stepped back noticing the chains that held up the door. With one fast swing he threw his shield and it made clattering sound as it made contact with the chains. The old rusty chains snapped instantly slamming the door firmly shut and preventing it from opening again by conventional means.

Lara began calling out in pain. She had lost a fair amount of blood from her leg already. Bobbi rushed over and flipped Lara onto her stomach. She examined the damaged leg closely looking for the bullet.

"_We need to take out the bullet Lara."_

Lara just grunted her response. She was in far too much pain to talk without snapping at someone. Lara moved her arms allowing Bobbi to take off her backpack. Wasting no time Bobbi tipped the bag upside down and shook it until a medipack fell out.

All Steve and Hunter could do was stay alert. As Bobbi pulled out the bullet with a pair of tweezers, Lara squealed in pain and slapped the floor. Steve knelt down beside her and took her hand. She immediately began to squeeze it as he rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb.

"_The worst is over." _Bobbi told Lara as she started to bandage the wound.

Once Bobbi had done, Lara rolled onto her back and sat up. She examined the bandaged limb and thanked Bobbi. Bobbi gave her a small respectful smile in return, packing Lara's thing back into her bag.

"_We need to hurry."_ said Hunter as he looked into the next room.

Bobbi helped Lara get to her feet. The pain was still too fresh for Lara to stand on her own. She lent on Bobbi for support as they entered the next room. Hunter led the group with Steve close behind, followed by Lara leaning on Bobbi.


	15. Chapter 15

**Escape Plan.**

This chamber was brighter and much bigger than the one before and in the distance they could hear the distinct sound of flowing water splattering onto the cold stone floor. As the group ventured further in they saw the water flowing into the room from little holes in the walls, causing a calming rippling effect in the pool it cascaded into. If they hadn't been so pressed for time Lara would have enjoyed watching the reflection of the water for a while.

There were torches hanging from the walls and braziers alight at the side of the pools. The fire was dancing in the slight breeze that blew through the room which only added to the serene beauty of the room. Even though it was a small breeze it soothed the burning pain in Lara's leg. Lara was still lent on Bobbi for support. The pain in her leg had not subsided one bit and the blood had already soaked the bandage and had began to trickle down her leg.

The further they proceeded into the room the more clear that the end became. The was a shallow pool of water surrounding an engraved stone pedestal. Upon the pedestal was an old water stained book.

Lara and Bobbi remained near the door while Steve and Hunter edged closer to the pedestal. There was no way that Lara could deal with climbing the steps which led to the pedestal. With each step an anxious knot tied tighter in their stomachs as nothing happened. Dread filled them.

"_Lara, it is likely this room has a trap in it?"_ asked Hunter as the quiet remained.

"_What do you think?" _she snapped as she felt a twinge in her leg. She had slowly knelt down, resting on a piece of rubble from the dilapidated wall.

The cobbled floor and door behind them rumbled as the Hydra agents on the other side were trying to break through. By the size of the explosions they could tell Hydra was trying to preserve as much as they could. Dust drifted down from the ceiling with each rumble. Hunter and Steve exchanged worried looks before scanning a side of the room each.

The door gave a violent rumble and began to crumble and shake. They were running out of time. Lara and Bobbi both gasped knowing that Hydra were getting closer.

"_Bobbi go in my bag. There is some C4. We can place it around the door and blast them before they blast us." _instructed Lara.

Bobbi nodded and helped Lara turn around so she could reach her back pack. Lara stumbled slightly as Bobbi reached in and pulled out the C4. They were too close to the door so Lara hobbled her way to another cover as Bobbi carefully and thoughtfully placed the C4. After rigging the C4 Bobbi darted back to Lara.

From their cover they called to Hunter and Steve.

"_Screw the traps just grab the book! We are out of time! But please for the love of God be careful."_ shouted Lara, preparing her guns.

Steve sprinted to the pedestal as Hunter kept an eye on him, looking over his shoulder, back to the door, every so often. Steve paused for a brief moment before snatching up the aged book. He had no idea if this was the real one or not but they had no time. At that moment the door shook again, much more violently than ever before. Bobbi called to Lara over the sound of rock on rock, signalling for the destruction of the door.

The large Mayan door crumbled to the floor bringing down some of the ceiling with it. As they had planned some of the Hydra agents on the other side had ventured too far forward and had become trapped and crushed beneath the rubble heavily thinning out the Hydra group. The remaining Hydra had started to rush through the newly made opening desperately searching for cover. Bobbi and Lara opened fire from behind their cover, attempting to protect Steve and Hunter the best they could. From further back Hunter picked of the agents that had broken slightly further forward than the rest.

Realising that there were far too many for them to handle, even after the crumble of the ceiling, Bobbi ordered Hunter to keep them covered. She helped Lara get to her feet and shuffle backwards towards Hunter and Steve.

"_Got it... Damn!"_ shouted Steve from the back of the chamber.

As soon as he had lifted the book, water had begun to flow through the chamber and was quickly rising. Before they knew it the cool water had reached their waist.

Bobbi and Lara had now joined Hunter and Steve at the back. Hunter was still shooting as were Bobbi and Lara as best they could. Lara's face kept scrunching up with pain as Steve was defending them with his shield while they decided the best plan of action.

"_We need to get out of here!"_ bellowed Hunter over the sound of gunfire, his aim not faltering in the slightest.

_Well never_, thought Lara as she adjusted herself so she could aim better.

"_This amount of water had to come from somewhere!"_ hissed Lara, frantically looking around the room.

She saw it. In what was just a pool of water before the pedestal earlier was a small opening. An opening that was just big enough for some one to swim through. Dragging Bobbi with her, Lara waded through the water. The boys quickly followed her lead and dived into the pool after them.

Hunter was the last one to swim through but before he left he placed another C4 at the top of the entrance. When he had reached an air pocket he prayed that the C4 would still work. He pressed down the button and shortly after heard the satisfying rumble of the C4 explosion blocking the entrance. Smiling to himself for a moment, Hunter dived beneath the water and followed the others.

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_**Please if you have anything that would help with this chapter let me know because I struggled with this one so much. Thank you to all of those who have favourited or followed. And a massive thank you to all those who have stuck with this so far, you are all very lovely xD**_


	16. Chapter 16

**Return To Base.**

The current in the tunnel helped the group swim through it faster also aided by the fact Hunter had blown the entrance shut. It also told them that it lead somewhere. All they hoped is that the exit was far away from any Hydra agents.

Luck was on their side. The tunnel exit was just off of the beach of the village. The moon was now high in the sky and basking the beach in a cool silvery glow. The wind had become far more colder than before. Even Steve was bothered by it.

Bobbi surfaced first closely followed by Steve. Hunter appeared at the same time as Lara, pain was plastered across her face. The leg wound had opened up letting Lara's blood flow freely out and into the salty sea. Hunter looped his arm around her waist and began to pull her to the shore as she was unable to swim at all. Bobbi helped get her out of the shallows and placed Lara onto her stomach on the beach.

"_Hey so much for that beast eh."_ stated Hunter, pulling at his soaked clothes to get them of his skin.

Lara was in agony, she could barely move. She had lost so much blood that she was sweating and zoning out.

"_Shut up and help me!"_ demanded Bobbi pointing at Lara's leg.

They began to take off Lara's bandage as quickly but as carefully as they could so they wouldn't hurt Lara further. Lara's pain was only increasing as the air got to the wound. It seemed to throb heavily in her leg but it also sent a shockwave of biting ache through her body.

"_We need to get to safety. My leg will have to wait."_ Lara said through gritted teeth. There was no way in hell that she wanted to be stitched up in the middle of the beach. She wanted more than anything for her leg to be healed but she knew what her priorities were.

Lara slapped her hands on the floor and pushed herself onto her feet. It wasn't long before she stumbled and fell back down to her knees. Her temper was only getting worse.

"_I agree with Lara, we need to get out of here."_ said Steve after returning from scanning the surrounding area, making sure there was no Hydra agents around them.

Bobbi sighed and hastily covered the wound again. Steve led the way back to the B&amp;B as Bobbi, once again helped Lara get around. Hunter kept an eye out behind, making sure that they weren't followed. Lara hated feeling like a nuisance and that is precisely how she felt right now. She couldn't walk on her own and, because of her, they were going at half the speed she would have liked whilst probably being followed or tracked by Hydra.

The group entered the crumbling B&amp;B as quietly as they could, trying not to disturb anyone else who was staying there. The elderly lady was still up at this hour, pottering around tiding little bits and bats. Her wrinkled face dropped when she saw four incredibly wet and worn people standing in her foyer. Three she recognised but one she didn't.

"_Erm,"_ Hunter started with panic in his voice as he looked to the others, _"Could you not tell anyone that we are here please?"_

The lady just stood there staring at Lara propped up on Bobbi. Her eyes dared to Lara's pain stained face to the blood dripping down her leg.

"_Please, I'll pay you for your trouble."_ whispered Lara, the pain starting to get too much.

Steve's eyes were locked on Lara. Even while she was resting on Bobbi she was starting to sway, her face growing pale and sweaty. He knew she wouldn't admit it but he could tell she was becoming light headed. She had lost too much blood not to start going dizzy. The lady nodded her answer and as soon as she did Steve scooped Lara up into his arms, her head coming to rest on his chest. He carried her up the stairs hurriedly and towards their shared room, closely followed by Bobbi and Hunter.

As soon as they entered the tiny room Steve placed Lara gently onto the bed allowing Bobbi to properly tend to her wound while Hunter got her a glass of water to keep her hydrated. Once again Bobbi forced Lara onto her stomach. Lara immediately felt most of her body relax. The only part that didn't was her leg as she felt the needle pierce her skin several times over.

There wasn't much that Steve and Hunter could do. Steve had opted to sit beside Lara and hold her hand for comfort. Hunter was lent against the wall near the door like a spare part, his eyes watching both Steve and Lara.

"_So we do have the book right? We didn't just go through all that for nothing?"_ he asked taking off his jacket.

Steve looked down avoiding Lara's gaze. He pulled out an extremely soggy book.

"_I didn't have time to secure it."_ He mumbled feeling guilty as he looked down at the now tattered and sodden book.

Bobbi had finished patching Lara up again but this time she had the time to be more thorough. Lara turned over and sat upright on the bed with her back against the headboard and drank the glass of water that Hunter had gotten for her. She was already start feeling better.

"_It's okay Steve just give me what you have."_ Lara said as soothingly as she could, placing the glass on the beside table. The pain in her leg was starting to fade a little.

With dainty fingers Lara turned the soggy pages, carefully pulling them apart. Most of the ink in the book had run blurring what words Lara could read. Every so often Lara would curse under her breath as a page would tear slightly or take extra teasing to pull apart. She slammed the book shut causing some of the pages to become loose.

"_Sorry."_ muttered Steve lowering his head.

"_Don't apologise Steve it happens." _reassured Lara giving him a small smile.

Hunter sat beside Bobbi on the bed making it dip under the weight of four people.

"_What can you make out?" _he asked.

Lara sighed. _"I could make out something about observing someones soul when all parts are used in unison or combined or something but that's it."_

They took a brief moment to wonder what that could mean but not one of them understood it. Not even Lara who had experienced various different things due to the many artefacts she had found over the years.

"_Well at least Hydra can't have it."_ stated Bobbi looking on the brighter side of the situation, braking the silence and getting a chuckle out of Lara.

"_Yeah but we need to get into contact with Tony. They'll still be looking for it."_ Steve lent back on the bed resting beside Lara.

"_Will we even be able to out here?"_ questioned Hunter.

During all of this Lara had been rummaging in her bag for something. After a moment she pulled out a surprisingly pristine tablet. Everyone looked at her in shock.

She looked innocently between them all. _"What? It was a present for getting Coulson to talk." _she said plainly smiling proudly.

She began to press different buttons on the black tablet. It didn't actually take her that long to contact Tony. At first all they got was static coupled with the odd swear word or someone trying to talk to them. Lara pressed a few more buttons trying to clear up the connection while the others sat there patiently.

"_Hey beautiful. How's it on your end?"_ the overly confident billionaire asked, finally getting a clear connection even though the odd bit of static flittered in and out.

Lara explained everything that happened to them but left out the little trails they had to go through. Tony let them know that he, Bruce, Thor and Coulson had encountered Hydra as well. He explained that Thor and Bruce took out the planes while he and Coulson dealt with the ground forces.

Hunter could help but laugh at Coulson being stuck on a mountainside with Tony Stark, Thor and Bruce Banner...well the incredible Hulk. Coulson would have had to been flown up.

"_It looks like we are all homeward bound then. I'll let everyone else know. Get back safe Lara."_

"_I'll keep trying to figure out more of the writing in this book."_

She disconnected and placed the tablet back into her bag.


	17. Chapter 17

**He Gets Everywhere.**

Stark Tower was buzzing with activity, all be it a rather worn and tired buzz. Every team had encountered some kind of Hydra resistance. Clint, Natasha and Skye had managed to get away with only cuts and bruises. After his trip though the sky and mountains tops Coulson was incredibly pale and still looked wind swept. Tony's armour was battered and scratched unlike Thor was looked exactly the same as when he left.

Bobbi, Skye and Lara were sat at the sofas. Bobbi was talking to Skye, while Lara was keeping herself to herself. She had her bandaged leg popped up on the coffee table anxiously reading to herself. When she had gotten back to the Tower Tony and his team had already returned. She immediately gave him the water logged book so that he go scan it for anymore information. That's all they were waiting for.

At 1pm on a Tuesday afternoon Tony called everyone to the hologram table in the main room. In their own time each person made their may to the table.

"_Erm excuse me can some one help me please?"_ asked Lara, slowly lowering her leg from the table before attempting to stand up.

Thor turned around and walked to her with a smile on his face. Lara held out her hand for him to hold as she tried to get to her feet again. Thor had another idea. He gently moved her arm away and scooped her up into his arms, completely taking her by surprise. She could feel the blood rush to her face as she was being held in the Norse God of Thunder's muscular arms. For the second time she was star struck.

As Thor walked back over to the hologram table, Steve pulled a chair from the kitchen island. He gave her a half smile. By what Lara could tell he found Lara's embarrassment funny yet there was something else hidden behind his crystal blue eyes. Perhaps jealousy she thought, or hoped.

Lara was sat on the chair with Steve on her right and Natasha to her left. To the left of Natasha was Skye then Bobbi followed by Hunter. At the other side of Hunter was Coulson. Thor had headed around the table to stand next to Coulson. On Steve's right was Clint, lounging in a chair. Bruce and Tony were next and were in the middle of a conversation. Or Tony was just trying to annoy Bruce, Lara couldn't tell which either way Tony had his trademark grin on his face.

Once they were all present Tony gave up his attempt to irritate Bruce. He pressed a few buttons on his hologram table, making a selection of images appear. The pictures seemed to circle around the table allowing everyone to see them.

"_I couldn't get that much out of the book."_ stated Tony as people looked over the images of the book.

Steve shifted uncomfortably feeling guilty about the book. Underneath the table Lara grabbed his hand trying to comfort him. It worked. Steve looked at her slyly giving her a small yet affectionate smile which she returned. At her other side Lara heard Natasha giggle to herself. Hating that Natasha was right, Lara playfully punched her with her free hand.

"_The only thing that I managed to get from it was small segments. Most of the bits that I got mentioned said something about other items but it never said what they were."_, everyone was listening intently even though it was Tony speaking, _"It said that if the controller was used with the cord that it will make the user be able to claim the hearts of others."_

Everyone was silent. Each was thinking about what Tony had just told them and was trying to comprehend it.

"_So... What the hell does that mean?"_ asked Hunter, getting a chuckle out of Clint.

"_Wait, I thought you said that they make you ridiculously fast?"_ questioned Clint, leaning further back in the chair.

Lara slowly looked at him slightly peeved. _"Lots of myths change over time and a lot of the information that we have nowadays is wrong in some way, like the fact you have a brain."_

Natasha wasn't the only one who found that funny. Thor unleashed a hearty laugh while Natasha shook her head while smiling. Clint just stuck out his tongue like a petulant child, knowing that Lara didn't mean it.

"_That's not it though,"_ he was looking directly at Lara, making her feeling rather uncomfortable. Her heart seemed to sink the longer he looked at her. _"There was a small segment that was added later."_

Tony tapped and swiped at the hologram making a specific section of the book a whole lot more visible. Lara's faced dropped instantly. It was a completely different to the rest of the book and the writing was all too familiar to Lara.

"_For the love of everything holy do not use this my sweet." _read Bruce, confusion etched onto his face.

Lara immediately began to tear up. She knew who it was from and was completely confused by how it even got there.

"_How did he..? Why did he..?"_ mumbled a confused and weeping Lara.

Everyone just seemed to stare at Lara, not that she even noticed. All were just as bemused as she was but they had less information.

"_Whose writing is that Lara?"_ asked Tony in the softest voice he had.

Silence filled the air as Lara tried to get her head around what she had heard. Her breathing had quickened. Steve had placed his hand on hers to try comfort her.

"_My fathers." _she whispered.

She slowly looked up until her eyes met Tony's. He simply looked her with a sympathetic look on his face. He knew how she felt. He knew precisely how she felt. She was annoyed and confused that her father had neglected to tell her something when she had thought that they were rather close. Something his father had done a lot.

She took in a deep breath. _"I need to go home Tony."_

Steve became the most defensive that any of the others had ever seen him. He immediately stood straight and turned to face Lara.

"_Are you insane? Hydra will be watching it, waiting for one of us to go back. There is no way in hell I'm letting you go back with your leg like that." _

Everyone's eyes were now on Steve with varying degrees of laughter or confusion on their faces. Lara had not stopped looking at Tony knowing that if anyone was going to agree with her it would be him. She wasn't wrong.

"_You're going to need a distraction then."_ he said with a devious smile curling at his lips, _"I'll happily provide you one."_

Steve face snapped to face Tony. He was completely stunned and lost of words. Why was Tony supporting this idea? The rest of the group didn't quite know what to do.

"_No Tony. I want you to come with me. And possibly one other. Any volunteers?"_

Lara's voice was still really quiet. Everyone could hear the hurt and unease in her voice. The group were quiet waiting for one person to speak. That person was Natasha.

"_I'll go with you." _she said as she flicked a red curl out of her eyes.

Lara looked to Natasha and gave her a small thankful smile. She was happy knowing that someone she could easily talk to was going with them. Even if that did mean she was probably going to question about Steve. She had easily became Lara's sister from another mister.

That left everyone else for the distraction and what a distraction team it was. It had both Thor and Bruce, well Hulk, to cause a scene. Add to that Skye's ability to shake the earth on top of that. So it was decided. Lara, Natasha and Tony were to go back to Croft Manor while the rest put on the show of a lifetime.

"_So where are we going Boss man?"_ asked Hunter, taking a swig of his drink while looking at Coulson.

"_I'm sure we'll find somewhere to piss off Hydra." _replied Coulson, letting his playful side show.


	18. Chapter 18

**Homeward Bound.**

She sat there in the incredibly comfortable and incredibly expensive beige leather seats of Stark's jet just thinking to herself. After the revelation that her father had found and, for some reason, abandoned the Hu'un Na'atik, the book of understanding, Lara needed to know why. Her mind was reeling. What was it about this triad of artefacts that made her father think twice.

Natasha was sat a bit of a distance away from both Lara and Tony, keeping herself to herself, not wanting to make it any harder for Lara. Tony was seated across from Lara. Lara lent back in the seat, closing her eyes as she did so. There was still a little bit of pain in her leg. It seemed to ache regardless of what she was doing. The cut itself had mostly healed. To make sure that it didn't get infected it was still bandaged. Every so often she would carefully message it trying to relieve the ache or rest it on the seat in front of her, keeping it elevated.

"_So why are we going back to the Manor?"_ asked Tony as he tinkered with his armour, glancing up at Lara with a caring look in his eyes.

Lara looked over to him, her voice quiet. _"If my father left them for a reason we need to find out why. Our best bet is to search his studies. Maybe he wrote about them in one of his journals."_

Tony glanced at her with care in his eyes but with a little hint of playfulness._ "So why did you want me, and not Steve?"_

At the mention of Steve she blushed a little. Apparently it wasn't only Natasha that had noticed.

"_It'll be easier for you to search the lower study for notes, passageways, anything really."_ she explained not even addressing the Steve matter. She knew that he had added that little pause for emphasis.

"_The jet is cloaked and we are landing."_ stated Natasha as she rose from her seat putting down the book that she was reading.

Once they had landed they moved quickly into the rubble of the house not wanting to stay out in the open for too long. Lara absolutely hated seeing the house she grew up in in tatters and it had happened one too many times during her lifetime. So many times she has had to refurbish it and, honestly, she was growing tired of it.

The main hall looked exactly the same as when they had left. The only thing that was added was the smell of wet dog. There was a mass collection of stone and wooden beams laying across where the now incredibly filthy sofas now rested. The trio walked further into the mansion keeping their eyes and ears peeled for anything. They had no idea if Hydra was still there or not. If all went well the distraction team were doing their jobs.

Lara and Natasha headed up the remainder of the stairs as Tony blasted his way down into the crypt as the entrance had caved in.

"_Stay in contact girlies."_ he saluted at them before descending.

The strong independent women just stared at him incredulously.

"_Did he..?"_ stumbled Natasha turning to face Lara.

Lara just rolled her eyes and continued up the stairs and towards the library/study.

They carefully moved the wreckage around looking for anything that was out of place trying desperately not to make things this worse. The more she looked around the more Lara hated being there. There were so many memories in that room alone, both good and bad. Her face grew even more despondent when she was that the majority of the books had been ruined.

Natasha saw the look on Lara's face and couldn't help but feel sorry for her.

"_We can rebuild. I'm sure Tony will be more than willing to help. The others too."_ Natasha put her hand on Lara's shoulder in an attempt to get her attention and comfort her at the same time.

"_Sure I'll help out. Get you better defences. Maybe let Friday in so she can help."_ added Tony sensing that Lara was still grieved by her home.

"_It's not that."_ Lara took a deep breath, _"The older I get the more I find out that my father has hidden things from me. It just... I thought we were close."_

Everyone was silent. Natasha watched Lara as she brushed a tear away. They heard Tony sigh over the comms.

"_I hear ya there sister. Minus the close part."_

Natasha frowned and continued to search. Lara shortly followed her lead.

"_Your father was a member of SHIELD Tony. Of course he kept things quiet."_ They could clearly hear the annoyed tone in Natasha's voice.

Before Tony could argue back, which Lara was sure he was going to, she butted in.

"_Just stop alright. I shouldn't have said anything." _she snapped as she started to get more and more angry.

After spending another ten minutes searching the library, Natasha and Lara came to the conclusion that they was nothing else hidden. That did nothing to improve Lara's mood. The two women moved onto main hall. Even in it's smashed up state it was still big enough to hide more secrets.

Down in the lower study Tony wasn't fairing any better. When he thought that he had found another passage it just turned out to be a pocket of air, a part of the natural rock formation. He had to be very careful when he found one of the pockets. If he blasted some of them it could have sent the rest of the manor come tumbling down crushing him as well as Natasha and Lara.

Another hour into searching is when it got a lot worse. It was very quiet when the distinct beeping of the comms echoed in their ears.

"_You guys might wanna get out of there. Gellis is on his way, he knows we were just a distraction."_ stated a panicked Clint. There could hear the sound of gunfire in the background along the the occasional roar of the Hulk.

Tony rushed upstairs toward Natasha and Lara who were waiting for him in the main hall still searching but now more frantically. The were casting aside the stones and bricks like there were nothing, desperately trying to find something, anything. They glided their hands along the walls trying to feel for any breeze that shouldn't be there. The more they searched the more aggravated they got.

"_They're getting closer so you two need to arm up." _said Tony as he read a radar in his visor.

Natasha ran up the stairs in search of a high vantage point where she couldn't be seen. Lara was still searching completely oblivious to everything else. Tony had to grab her by her shoulders to get her to stop.

"_Do you have any other weapons?"_ asked Tony, seeing that Lara only had her pistols with her.

Lara took a deep breath then nodded before rushing towards where her armoury used to be. Although the majority of the walls were no longer standing, a fair amount of the weapons and guns were still relatively intact. As Lara searched through the guns for one that would be the most useful and had easily accessible ammo while Tony managed to find a computer that still worked. It had been protected from the falling rubble by the shelving above it. He hacked into it drawing out all of the information on it that Lara may need. Surprisingly in some places the cameras were still functioning allowing Tony access.

Deciding on her weapon of choice Lara picked up a Barrett M98B sniper rifle. Tony was a dangerous target on his own in that armour so she figured that most firepower would be aimed at him. With the sniper rifle she would be able to pick off the more secluded Hydra agents effectively thinning the crowd. That and it was the only gun that wasn't damaged to the point where it wouldn't work.

"_Time to move."_ stated Tony making sure that the computer he had just hacked was destroyed preventing anyone from accessing it.

* * *

_**I know I don't say this often but I want to thank every single one of you that has favourited and/or followed story. It really means a lot to me and makes me want to write more. As do reviews hint hint *Gently elbows the reader in the side and winks* Seriously though thank you. If you find any issues or just want to tell me what you like please do not hesitate to let me know you glorious bunch of people. xD**_


	19. Chapter 19

**Things Change Quickly.**

They were running out of time. There were now so many blips on Tony's radar indicating that Hydra were almost upon them. Not wanting to waste the little time they had left Tony grabbed Lara by her arm and rushed her out of the armoury. She still had the sniper rifle in hand and only just managed to grab a small box of ammo as she went.

There were pros and cons of Croft Manor being in disrepair. The obvious cons being that Lara would have to rebuild, that pretty much everything in it was now a hazard. One bonus was that it had now gained unintentional cover.

"_Tony take me up there."_ demanded Lara pointing up to the higher level just behind a pile of debris and fallen beams.

He looped one arm around her waist pulling close to him. She knew that he had a huge grin on underneath that visor and that he was coming up with many different sexual comments in that dirty mind of his as she slammed into his chest.

Whilst still hovering in the air Tony loosened his grip on Lara letting her jump to her goal. He returned to the ground and stood slap bang in the middle of the hall. Lara placed the rifle in a comfortable place that allowed her to see as much of the room as she could. She had already started to control her breathing, pushing her emotions away the best she could so she could focus.

She quickly scanned around for Natasha wondering where she had gone. Nothing. Lara could see nothing of her. No wonder she had gotten such a good reputation as a spy. One minute she was there and the next gone.

Everything was quiet. All Lara could hear was her own steadied breathing. It was when the tension was at it highest when they arrived.

Hydra began to swarm through the front like bees swarming a hornet. All of them carried assault rifles and started to unload on Tony. Once enough of them were in Natasha jumped off of her little perch and attacked them from behind.

Tony was fighting the majority of the Hydra agents, hitting them when they came too close, shooting when he could. There was just too many of them in the now heavily occupied space for him to work effectively.

Natasha had managed to take out five guys before she was spotted. Once she had she had no chance of hiding again. They tried to all attack her at once but she was far too experienced for that. She began to use them against each other by dodging their swings making them hit another agent or when she was lifted from the floor using their bodyweight and pushing off of them trying to give herself breathing room.

The enclosed space made it hard for Lara to get a clean shot. She had managed to snipe a few people but only grazed a lot more. That only alerted them to her position.

A few Hydra agents broke off from the main group and headed up towards Lara, their rifles poised and ready to shoot. With her sniper now completely useless she threw it at the closest agent before pulling out her trusty pistols. She rolled closing the gap between them and as she rose fire three shot that connected to the knee of one, causing him to crumple to the floor in agony. The other hit an agent right between the eyes sending his body toppling over the remaining banister and landing on the ground floor with a dull thud.

That was not enough. They were heavily out numbered even with Tony using all of his tricks. It really was like fighting a Hydra. Cut off the head and two more appear. Tony , Natasha and Lara were growing desperate. The agents attacking Lara had doubled in number. In order to avoid certain death Lara jumped back over her cover but that wasn't enough. The were still advancing and firing on her.

She began to back up firing her pistols when she could. She backed up too far. The banister was missing the further back she went. The was no way that Lara could afford to take her eyes off of the agents so she didn't. She kept edging backwards. It was too late for her to react when she realised that she had stepped that one step too far. She had stumbled off of the edge and began to fall to the ground floor. Beneath her was a large pile of debris and rubble. If she landed the outcome would not be good.

Luckily for Lara she had a knight in shining armour. Quite literally. Tony had seen her fall and quickly flew up to catch her in his arms. He landed in a little uncrowded spot and defended Lara as she grabbed a assault rifle from the floor.

There was no way they could deny it. Hydra were winning. In the back of her mind Lara was praying that Steve and the others would arrive soon. Steve. If it the battle kept going the way it was going Lara honestly feared that she would never see him again.

Hydra began to part at the entrance. A single man strode through like nothing was happening. With a simple raise of his arm the fighting stopped. Tony, Natasha and Lara were stood in a circle panting, with various cuts and bruises or in Tony's case dents. Not once did they relax.

"_I don't believe I've had the pleasure."_ stated Gellis with a smug grin plastered across his face.

"_And you won't."_ bit back Tony defensively. There was no way that Tony wanted to give this man anything.

Gellis stared at Tony as he chuckled. He only broke his gaze to nod at another agent. The agent marched forward and grabbed Lara forcibly dragging her towards Gellis. Tony and Natasha stepped forward in an attempt to get to Lara.

"_Don't guys." _pleaded Lara. She could feel a very sharp knife pressing into the middle of her back.

Lara's guard began to pat her down, searching for something. Whether that was another weapon or something else she had no idea. As he patted her he seemed to linger on rear end a little too long. With a sigh Lara kicked back painfully catching him in his shins. The guard stuck her in the back and threw away her weapons. Finally he pulled off her bag and passed it to Gellis.

He unzipped the little bag and rummaged eagerly within. With it being a small bag it didn't take him long to realise that what he wanted wasn't in there.

"_Shame."_ he said emotionless as he casted the bag aside.

He reached into his own coat and pulled out two things. The trio's face dropped when they saw what he had. It was the Su'um Aantah as well as a USB stick.

"_We only needed that piece."_ his smug grin returned.

All three of them had the vary same expression. How the hell did he have the Su'um Aantah. And what was on the USB?

"_If you are wondering while your friends were 'distracting' us a team infiltrated Stark Tower. You should protect this a little better Mr Stark. So now we have two of the three artefacts."_

Anger was now bubbling inside every single one of them. He had played them. He knew exactly what they would do. A cold silence filled the room as Tony stared angrily at Gellis.

Lara's guard pulled one of her arms back and pushed it up her back, making sure he had complete control of her. He positioned himself directly behind her, like he expected something to happen, something where he would be able to use her as a shield.

Tony stepped forward, standing as tall as he could to try intimidate the guard to let her go.

"_Na ah. Take one more step and the worlds most revered archeologist will meet an untimely end." _Gellis' smug grin only grew wider. _"Now Mr Stark. If you would kindly give my the controller."_

Tony's face dropped._ "No."_

Gellis sighed and casually pulled out a jagged knife and slowly placed it on Lara's throat making sure that the two Avengers saw the length of the blade. Her breathing quickened at the feel of the cold steel blade laid across her throat.

"_Don't you dare Stark. There are more important things at stake."_ warned Lara through gritted teeth, her eyes meeting the slots in his visor. Her eyes were filling with tears but behind them was the look of determination.

Tony stood straight defiantly as Natasha kept a close eye on the agents surrounding them. Gellis rolled his eyes and put pressure on Lara's throat. She let out a small whimper as the blade cut her throat slightly. A single drop of blood trickled down her neck.

"_Fine!" _Natasha's head snapped to Tony with an incredulous look etched onto her face. A small compartment opened on Tony's leg. He slowly reached down and pulled out the controller. He shook his head before throwing it to Gellis.

Gellis looked at it greedily. _"Thank you."_ he turned and headed out of the gapping hole that once was the front door still staring at the artefact. _"Oh and Roberts, bring her with us. We'll need the collateral."_

The guard holding Lara, Roberts, struck Lara at the back of her head knocking her out. He threw the archeologist over his shoulder before following Gellis out of the Manor.

The Hydra agents began to leave still keeping their guns trained on the two Avengers. Natasha was shooting daggers into the back of Tony's head. He had given in so easily.

"_There's no point for this monstrosity to still be standing."_

The last of the agents fired a rocket at the roof making even more of it cave in. Tony quickly grabbed Natasha before flying out of the crumbling mansion.

"STARK! WE GO AFTER LARA NOW!" she demanded as he flew through the air.

Tony didn't say anything but he also didn't fly after Lara either. Clint contacted them again.

"_We're on the way Tony."_

"_No. Go to the Tower."_

"_TONY!"_ screamed Natasha.

"_Tony?"_

"_Just do it bird boy!"_


	20. Chapter 20

**Emotions Run High.**

For the rest of the flight back to Stark tower both Natasha and Tony were silent.

To prevent her from falling to her death Tony held Natasha close. To say the air between them was tense was an understatement. Natasha absolutely hated Tony for not going for Lara while Tony was in two minds. He was pissed about Gellis having all three pieces but, in typical Tony Stark fashion, had a trick up his sleeve. Always one step ahead. He was confident that Lara would be able to fend for herself.

They landed on the runway at the top of the tower. At the distinct sound of Tony's armour hitting the concrete with a metallic clunk Steve, Bobbi, Thor and Skye rushed into the living room eager to know what they had found. As soon as Tony had put Natasha down she stormed off into her room paying no attention to the confused looks that the others were giving her. She was far too angry to deal with anyone.

Tony solemnly walked along the runway as Jarvis slowly removed his armour. He entered the living room from the outside and headed straight for the hologram table.

"_Where's Lara?"_ asked Steve also heading towards the large table.

Tony did not answer but began to franticly press on the table swiping the blue windows this way and that. He was breathing heavily as he worked clearly looking for something.

"_Tony where's Lara?"_ Steve asked again but this time a lot firmer in an attempt to get Tony's attention. Again he got nothing but a disgruntled sigh. Steve's heart began to pound in his chest.

From behind them they heard the sound of a door slamming shut. That could have only been Natasha. Steve turned to see Clint stamping towards them looking rather annoyed.

"_Does someone wanna tell me why Nat's so pissed?"_ demanded Clint standing beside Steve with his armed folded.

Hunter had heard the commotion from his room and followed Clint into the living room. With one glance around the room Hunter could tell something was wrong. The atmosphere was so tense. Everyone either looked confused, angry or concerned.

"_Where's Lara?"_ asked Hunter when he saw no sign of the brunette archeologist.

In all the time that Steve had known Tony he had discovered that Tony always had something to say. The knot that had initially formed in Steve's stomach when he found out Lara wasn't with them had now tightened significantly. Something was wrong. Something bad enough that it had actually shut up the wiseass and cocky Tony Stark.

Anger was boiling over in Steve. He slammed his hands down on the table making it quiver under his strength, annoyed with nobody answering him. Tony's head shot up, his eyes meeting Steve's. They stared at each other trying to read what the other was thinking. Tony could see anger in Steve's while Steve saw something else in Tony's. Determination was locked behind the tears forming in Tony's brown eyes.

"_What happened Tony?"_ asked Steve, his voice quiet but still as firm.

Tony looked down at the hologram table before looking back at Steve.

"_Hydra showed up with a ridiculous amounts of their little goons. There were far too many of them." _Tony continued to work as he explained.

"_And Lara?"_ mumbled Steve through gritted teeth.

"_Gellis held Lara as a hostage until I gave him the controller."_ explained Tony, still holding his gaze with Steve.

Bruce had entered when he heard Steve slam his hands onto the table. He had been silently listening from the back of the room.

"_So he has one of the pieces?"_ he asked stepping towards everyone else holding his head with his hand.

"_No he has two."_ Tony now broke eye contact and looked back to the table.

Steve sighed and stood straight. He folded his arms wondering if the day could get any worse. _"Which two?"_

Tony looked back up to Steve with a small smile curling at his lips. Natasha had silently reentered the room and heard everything that Tony had said as she lent against the wall.

"_How is it two and not all three Stark?"_ she asked bitterly, her cool front slipping.

Tony winked at her. _"Because I gave him a decoy not the real deal."_

Throughout all of this they had still not fully answered Steve's question and apparently he was the only one who noticed. Everyone was so fixed on the artefacts that they had all forgot that Lara wasn't present.

"_For the last time. Where is Lara?"_ Steve looked down at his feet as he prepared himself for the answer.

No one answered him. Steve looked back up to see Tony looking at Natasha. Natasha was giving him the most evil look she could while Tony just looked guilty.

"_Gellis took her with him. He said she was collateral."_ Natasha's gaze never left Tony.

The anger that was boiling inside him boiled over. He had never felt this level of anger before. Steve began to pace the room. If it wasn't obvious before that there was something between Steve and Lara before, Steve's reaction had now confirmed it. His heart was beating so fast with both fear and anger that he feared it might beat right out of his chest.

"_Why did we even do that? We had all three pieces!"_ bellowed Steve, throwing his arms in the air._ "Now Lara is locked up in some mad mans prison with them doing god knows what!"_

"_She wanted to know why her father abandoned them."_ mumble Natasha feeling incredibly sorry for both Steve and Lara.

Steve continued to rage as Thor chimed in.

"_Please continue Tony."_ asked Thor as he grabbed ahold of Steve, trying into calm him down being one of the only people in the room that could hold him still.

Tony spoke up again as he brought up an image on the hologram table. _"The decoy had a tracker in it. All I need to do is find out where it is now."_

Both Bruce and Skye had moved to the table in order to help Tony. The more people they had on it the better. Steve fought out of Thor's grip and marched back over to the hologram table and slammed his hands back down again making Skye jump.

"_Then you had better start working on finding her then and fast."_ demanded Steve.

"_We can't abandon the items Captain. If Gellis thinks he has all three parts then we have a chance to get them back while he's distracted."_ stated Coulson.

Natasha sat down on the sofa. _"Lara first."_

She glared at Coulson at the thought of them leaving Lara until last.

Hunter chimed in with his two cents. _"Lara would want us to get the artefacts first. I've known her long enough to know that."_

Bobbi looked around the room taking in all of the people in the room. There was ten people in total. And a divide. Some wanted to go get Lara while others wanted to get the artefacts. Some were on the fence. Even though Lara and Bobbi had not always seen eye to eye on most subjects there was no way Bobbi was going to leave one of the people who knew the most about these artefacts behind.

"_There is enough of us to split into teams."_ she stated as a smile spread across her face.

She saw everyone else look around the room and count how many of them there was and it wasn't long before they agreed.


	21. Chapter 21

**Apprehension.**

It took the large group of people around ten minutes to split into two teams. Tony and Hunter, given their views, were first to decide that they would go for the artefacts while Steve refused to do anything else but save Lara. Natasha initially wanted to be apart of the team that went to save Lara but given that Skye hadn't been in the scale of fight that was on the horizon Natasha decided to help the attacking team. If the rescue team needed tech assistance Skye was perfect for it being a very skilled hacker.

The rest of the attacking team were Bruce, Thor, Tony, Hunter and Natasha while Steve, Clint, Coulson, Bobbi and Skye were to infiltrate the compound to get to Lara. Before they even got anywhere near the compound Tony needed to find it first. While he, Skye and Bruce worked on finding Lara the rest of the group had to find something to occupy their time.

Steve had chosen to try work out his angry in the training room. First he has started doing push ups, then pull ups pushing himself as far as he could go. No matter what he did he he couldn't shake Lara from his mind. He thought of what could be happening her, he thought of what pain she could be going through. That did not help his anger one bit.

As he was working on a punching bag, sweat sliding down his furrowed brow, he heard the door open and light footsteps enter. Natasha lent against the wall in a light black jacket and jeans. Steve glanced at Natasha to see her giving him the sympathetic look she could. Not wanting to talk at the moment he continued to punch the punching bag using all of his strength.

"_She'll be alright Steve."_ said Natasha, more to herself than Steve.

Steve unleashed several more heavy blows to the bag before resting his head against it.

"_I should have gone with her Natasha."_ he mumbled into the punching bag.

He heard Natasha sigh. _"It would have gone the same way Steve. Whether you replaced me or Tony. If you had replaced Tony we would all be dead because we didn't have the controller."_

Steve stared at the bag, Natasha's words going in one ear and out the other. He let out a deep breath before throwing more powerful shots at the bag. Natasha was at a loss for words. Even with the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D. and rise of Hydra she had not seen Steve this low. He was blaming himself and there was no way for him to have changed it. Natasha simply watched him as she tried to formulate what to say.

She pushed off of the wall and walked closer to the first avenger. _"What do you think of Lara?"_

Steve stopped his punch mid swing to give Natasha a confused and sheepish look.

"_And don't beat around the bush like she did."_

"_Like she did?"_ he asked confused.

Natasha put her hand on the punching bag to steady it giving him a small smile._ "Answer the question Steve."_

Steve started to rub the back of his neck awkwardly, avoiding Natasha's gaze and half smirk. His cheeks started to develop a lovely rosy glow.

"_Erm, well she's smart, funny, athletic, brave and honest."_ He paused trying to find the right words to say and judging if he could say them to Natasha. _"We had... a moment."_

Natasha couldn't hide the smirk on her face. She was right and she had known it regardless of how much Lara would deny it. _"I kind of figured that when we first came to the Tower."_

Steve's face crunched up in confusion, racking his brain for something from before the Tower. Croft Manor. Steve and Lara's moment back in Lara's room. He smiled slightly to himself as he sat on the bench, Natasha joining him.

"_Natasha. Will you keep this between us? I don't want Tony to know about it. I don't want to have to deal with him pestering me about her."_

That sparked intrigue in Natasha. So far all Steve had said was that they had had a moment but that statement indicated at something more.

"_I promise Steve but there's something more isn't there?"_ she asked, her eyebrow raised as she lent into his line of sight.

Steve nodded pushing is awkwardness aside and turning to face his friend.

"_We had another moment on the plane to Indonesia. She blames herself for Alistair's death."_ he finished solemnly.

"_At least she got it out of her system. His death wasn't her fault." _She posed a question that was on her mind, _"What do you mean, exactly, by a moment?"_ asked Natasha.

The rosy glow on Steve's cheeks returned in full force and was now a deep shade of red.

"_We, we nearly kissed. In both moments."_ he began to fiddle with his fingers, deliberately avoiding Natasha's eyes.

Natasha began to laugh loudly. _"So I was right then. You two do have a soft spot for each other."_

As soon as she finished Steve's cheek's turned a vibrant crimson and a very proud smile spread across his handsome face. Natasha's eyes widened and her jaw dropped in shock.

"_Steve? Did you two..?"_ she asked slowly.

Steve chuckled awkwardly looking at his feet, his entire face was now red and he was tapping his right foot.

"_Erm... we were in a small room with one bed. It sort of just happened."_ explained Steve, now raising his gaze to meet Natasha's, his face still as red as a beetroot.

She was still in shock. They had... She laughed loudly and playfully pushed Steve.

"_Screw Stark. As long as you're happy Steve you shouldn't be embarrassed. You and Lara are adults."_

Steve looked down again his proud smile changing to one of concern. Natasha noticed the change.

"_We will find her Natasha. __**I**__ will find her. I won't let them hurt her."_ Steve spoke quietly and slowly yet with a hint of determination.

Natasha put her hand on Steve's shoulder. _"Yeah we will Steve. Just do me a favour."_ Steve looked up to his red haired friend, _"When this is done, take her on a date."_

Steve smile at her and nodded in agreement. Since that night in Indonesia Steve had thought of asking Lara out to dinner or something. He just didn't think now was the time to ask.

"_Excuse me but__Tony believes that he has successfully located the beacon somewhere in Greenland."_ spoke Friday throughout the room.

Steve and Natasha's looked at each other silently asking if they had heard right. The look on the others face told them they did. Without another word they bolted for the living room.


	22. Chapter 22

**Ignorance.**

The British archeologist was locked within a small stone cell. The air was so cold that the unconscious Lara was curled up at the back of the plain cell trying to keep the heat in. The only thing in the cell other than Lara was the odd cockroach that scuttled along the floor looking for scraps.

Lara woke up to a large headache. She pushed herself up from the floor and instantly shivered. She gingerly tapped the back of her thumping head not wanting to hurt herself any further. Lara pulled her hand back into view to see a small amount of blood on her fingertips.

Lara sighed as she scanned the cell. It was tiny and cold. The stone walls did nothing but amplify the lack of heat. No matter where she went in the small cell or what she did she couldn't find a warm spot. There was absolutely nothing in the cell but Lara herself. There was no bed or even any sheets for her to lay on the floor.

Carefully getting to her feet, making sure she didn't send herself dizzy, Lara began to examine the cell closely looking for anything that could help. There were no loose bricks or any small discarded pieces of metal to try pick the lock with. Realising that there was nothing for her to do Lara slumped back against the far wall and slid down to the floor. Pulling her legs up to her chest, Lara felt a stinging pain in her neck. She gently rubbed her neck remembering the large knife that had been pressed against it. It had only caused a tiny cut but it was still bleeding. She pulled at her trouser leg ripping a part of it off before putting it to her neck. With a new tear in her trousers Lara shivered as the cold air rushed up the trouser leg.

She felt like she was sat there for ages before she heard the sounds of footsteps coming down the corridor. Lara lowered her head and cursed under her breath as a heavily armed man approached the bars of her cell. She refused to imediately look at him making him bang on the bars. Lara slowly raised her head to look at him, her face stoic.

Now having her attention the man opened the cell door and marched over to the archeologist turned prisoner. Lara sighed again and rose to her feet expecting trouble. The guard grabbed her arm forcibly and pushed her in front of him before pressing his gun into the small of her back.

Not wanting to make it easy for the guard Lara intentionally walked slowly and kept groaning showing her displeasure at the situation. The guard quickly got annoyed with her antics and pushed her again, this time with a lot more force that nearly made her fall over.

From behind her the guard barked orders at her, telling her when to turn and when to stay straight. He was leading her somewhere and all Lara could do was pray that it wasn't to her death. Luckily for her it wasn't.

They entered a very large warehouse type room that was crammed with people heading this way and that, clearly busy. At the far end of the room were a series of contraptions that Lara had no idea what they were used for. They were on a raised platform leading Lara to believe that that was where the fragments were. Her attention was drawn to the leader of the group stood just in front of the platform.

Gellis was no longer in his jet black trench coat. He had opted to take it off, now in a thick grey turtle neck, black trousers and furry boots. He was perfectly warm where as Lara was still freezing her behind off. All she was in was a black tank top and now ripped brown camouflage trousers. She had folded her arms in an attempt to keep some of her heat in.

Gellis turned to face her with a huge smug grin on his face. Her strode over to her his arms held out wide.

"_The time is near Lady Croft."_ he bellowed spinning around.

Lara just stared at him and shivered yet again. Gellis looked Lara up and down before picking up his trench coat. He stopped inches in front of her staring into her eyes. Lara maintained the deadpan look she had had the whole time. Gellis threw the trench coat around Lara's shoulders and held it closed pulling her closer to him in the process.

"_You know Croft you could be here to see this magnificent moment. If you play nice." _He spoke in a low, quiet tone what Lara presumed he thought was enticing.

Something clicked in Lara's mind. He wouldn't just bring her out of her cell to gloat, no, something was wrong. Taking a deep breath Lara put on her most flirtatious smile she could and closed the gap making it even smaller.

"_Oh honey. I wouldn't help you if you were on fire." _Her voice was just as low and quiet as his was, her smile dropping as she finished.

Gellis' smug grin quickly dropped and turned into a scowl. With a hefty amount of force, Gellis pulled back his trench coat from around Lara's shoulders, pushing her back as he did so. Gellis had no more use for her and nodded to the guard her brought her in. The guard grabbed her by her arm again and dragged her back to her cell.

Lara had only been sat one or two hours but with nothing to do it felt like an eternity to the young tomb raider. She sat in the corner of her cell curled up in a ball desperately trying to keep as warm as she could. She had even taken her long hair out of its plait, letting it flow over her shoulders in an attempt to block out the cold air.

She had her head resting on her knees and her eyes closed. She was lost in her own world, a part of her wondering if the others were coming to get her. The other half knew that they had to prioritise, that they should go for the artefacts first. What was the life of one person over the lives of many.

She heaved a heavy sigh as the entire compound shook and rumbled. Lara instantly looked up to see dust drifting down from the ceiling. Something was happening but Lara had no idea if it was Gellis or something else. Her heart was praying for the something else but her mind was telling her it could only be Gellis. A single tear glided down her cheek as the door at the end of the corridor opened.

Instead of hearing the sound of stomping footsteps, Lara could hear hushed voices. Intrigued Lara stood and tied her hair back again. Another door in the distance opened that the very obvious sound of fighting echoed down the corridor. Lara's heart was beating that hard that it might have tried escaping itself.

Two masked and heavily armed people arrived and stood in front of Lara's cell. Her excitement was quickly extinguished. They were wearing thick thermal gear designed to keep someone warm in cold climates. Lara took a step back and straightened her back defiantly.

"_I've not changed my mind."_ she stated coldly.

The smaller of the two took off their mask letting long wavy brown hair fall. She was smiling at Lara. _"Oh do you wanna stay then Lara?" _

It was Skye. The other person took of their mask to reveal Coulson who was smiling just as Skye was. Lara had never been so relieved to see two people she barely knew before. Lara rushed towards the door, tears forming in her eyes and a large smile across her face.

Coulson bent down to try unlock the door but was unsuccessful. They could still hear the sound of fighting in the distance. Coulson looked to Skye whose smile only got wider.

"_You may want to take a step back. Just in case."_ said Skye proudly.

Skye raised her hands towards the cell door as Lara looked on both confused and fascinated with would Skye was planning. As Skye closed her eyes the door began to vibrate. Lara's eyebrows shot up in shock as she stepped to the side to see if Skye was touching the door. She wasn't. There was a considerably gap between them. The door began to vibrate more vigorously until it was shaken off of the hinges freeing Lara from her prison.

Lara stared at Skye in awe. _"I bet that comes in handy."_

Skye gave Lara a mock bow as she stepped out into the corridor to hug both Skye and Coulson.

The distant fighting had now stopped drawing Lara, Skye and Coulson's attention to the far end of the corridor. Three people turned the corner and it was three people Lara was ecstatic to see. Bobbi, Clint and Steve were jogging down the corridor. As soon as Steve's eyes met Lara's he sprinted towards grabbing her around the waist into a tight yet caring embrace that lifted her off of the floor. Lara could feel the blood rush to her cheeks but she hugged back, just as tight, all the same.

Steve let Lara go, putting her down, his face just as red as hers was but slightly hidden beneath his Captain America mask. Bobbi just chuckled to herself at the fact that, like Natasha, she was right. She handed Lara a thick, furry, brown jacket as Lara asked _"So what's the plan?"_


	23. Chapter 23

**Assault.**

The team of Tony, Thor, Hulk, Hunter and Natasha were left looking for the artefacts. Even though she would much rather be looking for Lara, Natasha understood that it was better for her to be on the assault team. Skye was too unexperienced for that scale of a fight. She, Hunter and Bruce were currently parked in a open roofed 4x4 in the middle of a forest waiting for Tony and Thor to return. Tony and Thor were flying out and about scouting the outside of the compound looking for any signs of weakness or anything else that may be of use to them.

A few moments later Tony and Thor landed just in front of them with deep thuds, leaves slightly floating up under the air current they caused. Natasha stood up in the 4x4 as they approached.

"_There's a very thick wall surrounding the base and that wall is then heavily guarded. It has several very big turrets on it."_ explained Tony opening up his visor so they could understand him clearly, glancing at Bruce as he explained.

Bruce, who was sat in the back, stepped out of the 4x4 looking very solemn. The others watched him as he stepped to the side of Natasha's door.

"_You want the other guy?"_ he asked quietly, internally praying that they didn't.

Natasha reached over the door and put a hand on his shoulder making him turn to face her. She gave him a small reassuring smile which he returned quickly breaking eye contact.

"_Well it would keep the focus off of the others."_ stated Thor matter of factly, giving Bruce a friendly smile.

Bruce groaned before heading off into the thick trees, the others losing sight of him quickly. Within a few moments they heard the distinct roar of the Hulk followed by the earth shattering thumps that came with his running, thumps that were heading away from them.

Tony laughed, closing his visor. _"Well they know we are here now." _Without another word Tony flew off after the Hulk closely followed by Thor, both of them grinning widely.

"_Sounds like fun."_ chimed in Hunter as Natasha sat back down allowing Hunter to continue driving towards the compound. As he did Natasha picked off those she could.

Hunter was more than a competent driver. When ever the slippery dirt threw them one way he easily regained control and set them straight. He helped Natasha get easier shots by helping her them line up or driving straight into groups of Hydra agents with her delivering the final blow.

Luck, however, was not on their side. One agent got a hit off with a rocket launcher. Hunter dodged most of it swerving out of the way but unfortunately it still clipped the back of the 4x4.

"_Shit! Jump!"_ Not needing to be told twice Natasha elegantly dived from the 4x4, rolling effortlessly when she hit the ground as Hunter pounced after her, not nearly as graceful.

The two were now out in the open with no cover what so ever. Natasha called to Hunter for him to follow her. He did so firing his assault rifle as he did, Natasha shooting her pistols. Iron Man saw their predicament and couldn't resist playing hero. He swooped in taking out a large group that had descended upon Natasha and Hunter with the rockets from his shoulders.

"_Go to the compound. I'll keep you covered."_ called Tony over the comms.

Natasha nodded and sprinted off along side Hunter. The two reached a heavy door locked with a key code. As Natasha worked her magic Hunter kept her covered firing on all Hydra agents that advanced on them.

"_Hurry up red."_ shouted Hunter, reloading his gun as even more agent pressed on their position.

"_Going as fast as I can."_ she snapped back, _"There, done."_

Natasha threw open the door and rushed inside her pistol drawn quickly taking down any who drew their weapons on her. Hunter followed picking off the last few agents before more rushed them.

"_We're in." _He called over the headset in his ear.

As another wave of agents advanced on Hunter and Natasha, Thor landed between them shaking the very earth causing a few of them to stumble to the floor. With one swish of his hammer, Mjolnir, the agents were sent flying. He then followed Hunter and Natasha into the compound shutting the doors behind him.

The three of them advanced through the small corridor searching for the control room. They met very little resistance on the inside. They figured that most were outside dealing with both Tony and the Hulk.

The control room itself did have agents inside. Thor hammered the door down letting Hunter and Natasha rush inside and take down any one else who was still standing with quickness and precision. Natasha began searching the computers looking for any sign of Gellis or the artefacts as, once again, Hunter and Thor hand her back covered.

"_Gellis is in a very large room at the west side of the compound. Sending the location to you now Tony."_ informed Natasha as she continued to tap away at the computer.

"_Rightio. Me and the green machine will meet you there."_

Natasha lead Hunter and Thor through the inside of the compound. Knowing that the Avengers had now infiltrated the compound, agents had filled the corridors. Using everything they could the three of them fought their way through only gaining minor hits.

"_Hey we got Lara."_ called Clint over the comms.

Natasha smiled as she forcibly punched an agent into Thor who threw him to the other side of the corridor. She felt somewhat better knowing that Lara was alive and relatively safe. At least Steve would now stop worrying so much.

The new information encouraged all three of them to hurry. Any agents they came across now had panic plastered along their faces as they would see the mighty Thor come barrelling down the corridors. Hunter would work back to back with Natasha both unloading on any agents they could see while Thor would rattle the ground beneath them, swatting them like flies. If there were many agents Thor would boost Natasha over them allowing them to thin the herd from both sides. Hunter would help line them up allowing Thor to throw Mjolnir at them like fish in a barrel.

Eventually they came across large grey bay doors. Thor, with a smirk on his chiselled face, smashed them open with one clean swing allowing them entry to the large room where Gellis was. The bay doors flew across the room colliding with most of the Hydra agents that Gellis had ordered to defend him and the artefacts.

They entered with Thor in the middle and Natasha and Hunter on either side of him, all of them with wide smiles on their faces. The slick haired Gellis was about to order his agents to attack when the herd was thinned even more by the rampaging Hulk busting through the wall with a mighty roar sending debris flying everywhere.

Tony glided in after as if nothing had happened. Gellis' face had the looked of fear scratched into it. He rushed back to the artefacts. The Controller and the Suum Aantah were held in individual metal holders just as Lara had seen them only now they had a deep purple laser firing through them. The decoy Controller was slowly melting away, a hole being burnt through it.

Suddenly Gellis face changed from panic to amusement. He unleashed a loud chesty cackle that only echoed in the large room confusing all present as well as unsettling them. A door open from behind Gellis and Skye and Coulson stepped in, their guns raised, aimed at the back of Gellis' head.

"_Hey guys. There are three tanks on the way."_ shouted Skye, with a hint of panic, over the sound of the laser.

Thor stepped towards Hulk and tapped him on the shoulder before heading out of the hole the Hulk had made, the Hulk quick on his heels.

Gellis was still laughing his head off.

"_Did you think that was it?"_

* * *

**Hey I wanna again say thank you to all who have read this and enjoyed it so far and a special thank you to MDHunter for leaving a review near enough every chapter. You helped me want to continue writing this even when my brain got a little fizzled. I have fully finished writing this so all chapters are ready to go. In other words, because I'm me, you'll probably get a new chapter each day instead of every week or two. Please enjoy xD**


	24. Chapter 24

**The Battle.**

Gellis was still laughing his head off.

"_Did you think that was it?"_

Out of the same door that Coulson and Skye emerged from came Steve, Clint, Bobbi and Lara all armed and ready for a fight. They slowly created a curved line behind Gellis preparing incase he tried anything.

"_Shit. They have more vehicles and helicopters approaching and fast."_ cursed Tony reading his hud in his visor.

"_Yes we do." _Gellis said smugly.

Gellis speedily reached to the back of his belt and pulled out a magnum as hundreds of Hydra agents flooded into the room from all angles. Spinning on his heel Gellis turned to fire on Lara but lucky for her Steve stepped in front raising his shield while pulling her behind him. The bullet bounced off and connected with an agents shoulder.

As soon as he fired everyone leaped into action and all hell broke loose. There was fighting and gun shots everywhere. It was so noisy that they could barely hear themselves think. Everyone had spread out in the hall and were fighting several guys at once.

Clint, being an archer, was trying to reach higher ground in order to support as many as he could. He sprinted towards a metal staircase taking out as many agents as he could along the way. His boots clunked against the metal as he skipped every other step, rushing to the top. As soon as he reached the top an agent swung his face aiming directly for Clint's nose. Clint rolled, pulling a stun arrow from his quiver, spinning as he rose to his feet before ramming the arrow into the agents back, effectively paralysing the man albeit temperately. Having a small moment to breathe Clint pulled out another arrow and readied his bow, unleashing it on another who was charging at him. With a glance back down below he saw Natasha fighting around six agents. With her occupied she had failed to notice another try sneak up on her. Taking a deep breath Clint letting go another arrow right for the sneaky agent.

The arrow spun as it flew through the air, its aim true, connecting with the agent's heart. Natasha quickly looked up to give Clint an appreciative nod before returning to her battle. With ease, and the use of her trusty widow's bite shock gauntlets, Natasha was laying waste to the agents that surrounded her. She would use their own weight against them and easily move between them using her expert gymnastic abilities. Using her speed she jumped, twisting in the air, and grabbed two agents necks, one with her hands and the other with her feet. She continued twisting, snapping both of their necks and sending them to the floor with a thud. Once her group of agents were dealt with she moved onto the next.

As she fought she ended up back to back with Bobbi Morse. Natasha was the speedier of the two. Working in a circle Natasha would wear down the agents while Bobbi would use her batons and her power to finish them off until a huge agent wearing thick armour approached them. He was a behemoth of a man and definitely would need the two of him to take him out. The two women nodded to each other before Bobbi boosted Natasha high enough that she landed on his shoulders. Natasha jammed her widow's bite into the exposed skin on his neck shocking him as Bobbi slid in below ramming her electrified batons into his stomach, knocking him out.

Natasha jumped off of him before he clattered to the ground, muttering a breathless thanks to Bobbi before moving on to her next target. Bobbi also quickly rejoined the fray. Using her batons she began fighting two agents at once, one in front and one behind. In the mass battle it was hard for her to judge what the agents behind her were doing. Gaining a few cuts and bruises Bobbi swung her batons aiming mainly for their jaws or head in general. They connected with a bone chilling crack telling her she had broken their jaws or at least knocked out a tooth or two. As Bobbi began fighting more agents, that seem to appear from nowhere, she was blissfully unaware of an agent of Hydra aiming at her with a rocket launcher. Clearly they didn't care about killing their own. Before Bobbi could react he fired a rocket aiming right for her. Luck was on her side in the form of a small brunette woman. Well before the rocket got anywhere near Bobbi it shook and detonated taking out a large number of agents with it. Skye rushed forward.

"_You're welcome."_ she breathed, reloading her gun.

Giving Skye a brief smile the two friends fought along side each other passing agents between them. They knew how each other worked and what each others strengths were. But in typical Hydra fashion, the more agents they disposed of the more appeared. Running out of breath Skye used her ability to knock down a load of metal piping and sheets that landed on a few agents. Bobbi rushed forward charging the electricity in her batons before thrusting them down onto the metal causing it to sizzle and electrocute those beneath.

With Bobbi in no more immediate danger Skye rushed to Coulson's side. All Coulson had was an assault rife and he was running out of ammo fast. As she neared him, Skye shook the very ground making the agents panic allowing Coulson to thin the herd after reloading his gun. Coulson had never been more happy that Skye had been trained by Melinda May. Skye kicked up a rifle for herself and both unleashed on the agents, Skye occasionally using her ability to push them back. That wasn't enough. The agents began to separate the two and no matter how much they fought they were just going further and further away.

Coulson was getting overwhelmed and quickly. Casting his empty rifle aside Coulson pulled out his handgun firing on whoever he could as he back up trying to get more room. Just in the nick of time the Hulk created another doorway by smashing through yet another wall, swinging his huge arms at anything shooting him. That was precisely what Coulson had needed. Coulson bellowed his thanks to the big green guy before going in search of Skye.

The Hulk never heard Coulson thanks. He was far too busy grabbing as many agents as he could and slamming them back into the ground, roaring as he did so. The simple appearance of the Hulk was enough to start changing the tides of the battle. So many agents tried to escape his green fuelled wrath but so few succeeded. The strongest there is, slammed his hands into the ground making several agents fly up into the air. At that moment Thor flew through the new doorway seizing the opportunity to hammer the agents back down to the ground. The Hulk gave him a disgruntled roar as the God of Thunder landed to join the fight.

Thor imediately began to swing Mjolnir taking out several agents who were dumb enough to get close. Among the swings of his hammer he also threw powerful punches that were enough to send a man flying allowing him to then use his lightning to bring them back down. Nearby Thor heard the distinctive sound of Tony Stark's repulsers. Turning in search of the playboy billionaire he saw a numerous amount of armoured agents advancing on Tony as he fought valiantly. Remembering their fight in the forrest when they first met, Thor span Mjolnir above his head gathering as much lightning as he could.

"_Tony!"_ he bellowed getting Stark's attention.

Tony put his hands out to the side signalling he was ready. Thor directed the lightning directly to Tony's chest overcharging his suit. Tony used the power and directed it to his central arc. Smiling smugly to himself Tony released a large beam from his central arc blasting the armoured guys right out of the building. At that moment he heard a ding on the arm of his suit. He spun around to see who shot at him. A few snipers and managed to get to higher ground avoiding Hawkeye who was knee deep in Hydra himself. Using his advantage of flight Tony shot up to the snipers nests and took them down one by one. On his way back down he saw an agent enter carrying a very large machine gun but he was no match for Iron Man. Picking up the machine gun he flew over to Hunter.

"_Here. Birthday gift for ya."_ Tony joked dropping the machine gun in front of Hunter.

Hunter eagerly picked up the machine gun, widening his stance so he could fire it without stumbling from the recoil and began unloading on the Hydra agents nearby. The machine gun was so powerful it was like slicing through butter with a hot knife. It, however, didn't have a lot of ammo and he certainly had none spare. When it ran out Hunter threw it at an agent making him drop his rifle. Hunter slid to it kicking the agent out cold as he did. Hunter cursed to himself as picked up the weapon. Yet another armoured Hydra agent had entered and was striding directly for Hunter. The man swung down at the ground aiming for Hunters head. Hunter rolled away just in time. As he did so he noticed that the armour was only at the front. He needed to get behind him. Steve turned to see Hunter backing away from the armoured man looking for any kind of opening. Steve called to get Hunter's attention raising his shield and giving a small nod. Hunter smiled understanding instantly, aiming and firing at Steve shield. The bullets ricocheted hitting the armoured man right in the spine sending him crumpling to the floor.

Steve turned back to his own fight swinging his fist at an agent who dared to get too close. The first avenger butterfly kicked one agent and as he landed swung his shield at another sending him spinning to the floor. With ease Steve was taking out agent after agent. As Steve fought valiantly against around eight agents at once they tried to attack him all at once. Lara turned to glance at him to see them advancing on him. She rushed in super kicking the one behind him breaking the circle. Steve looked at Lara, as they fought side by side, to see her wink at him making him smile widely. They worked together like they had known each other for years. As they fought beside each other one agent began to furiously swipe for Lara who was already fighting three other guys. Steve stepped in grabbing the man's fist twisting it before kicking him in the stomach. Lara backflipped kicking a pistol out of the hands of one agent catching it as she stood straight. She spun on the spot firing a few times at Steve shield as he turned changing the path of the bullet. With the nearby agents dealt with Steve helped Lara corkscrew over the charging agents allowing them to attack them from two sides. More and more agents poured into the group separating the two heroes.

After being in a cold cell for hours Lara's muscles were incredibly tired. Her punches and kicks were growing weaker and she was quickly getting overwhelmed. She fought with all her might but that still wasn't enough. A wire twanged and vibrated as it appeared above her head. She glanced up to see Clint at the other end. Lara tried her hardest to keep the Hydra agents attention, getting a serge of adrenaline. Clint repelled down the line shooting as he did so, relieving some of the pressure that was on Lara.

"_Nice timing Hawkeye." _she panted catching a gun that Clint passed her.

Everyone was still in the middle of a fight and even with the big guns, Thor and Hulk, back there was no end to the Hydra forces. It only got worse when Tony, as he has flying through the air, was shot down by a new tank outside. That single shot shook the entire room and drew the attention of everyone. Natasha bellowed his name desperate for a response but didn't get anything making a knot tighten in everyones stomach.

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**This was a tough one to write so I would heavily appreciate any help or advice that could make it better, if you have any. Or you could just let me know what you think of it. Thank you xD.**


	25. Chapter 25

**The Apex.**

"_TONY!"_ bellowed Natasha.

Tony Stark did not respond. There were no wise cracks or jokes of any kind. With a new tank present and ready to rip them a new one, Thor flew outside to deal with it hoping to save as many of his friends as he could.

"_Come in Tony."_ called Steve desperately, still fighting the agents that surrounded him.

Again they got nothing from the genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist. Steve tried his hardest to get to his friend when Friday spoke up.

"_I am being hacked from somewhere in the room."_

Lara managed to find a free moment and started to look around looking for both Tony and any sign of the hacker. Above her see saw a slender blonde woman crouched over, holding a small tablet. Lara figured that she was the source of the hack and imediately began to unload at her. The women ducked in an attempt to dodge the bullet, glancing down at Lara. With a small bow, and a familiar smile, the woman sprinted off leaving Lara with no time to give chase. She instead turned her attention back to finding Tony.

Ducking and dodging blows as she sprinted through the crowd Lara saw the messy black hair of Gellis. He wasn't heading towards Tony but away, towards the artefacts.

With fury in her heart Lara started to shoot at Gellis quickly running out of ammo. He was doing something to the now fully melted decoy but his body was in the way to see what. As soon as he moved she saw that something else had taken it's place, the real Controller.

Lara charged at him using her full weight, planning to use the now empty pistol as a melee weapon. Gellis managed to dodge, knocking the gun out of the battered archeologists hand. She stayed on her feet, turning to spear him, pinning him to the floor. With anger flowing through her she began to punch him aiming for his head. She managed to land a few hits before Gellis wormed his arms up in defence blocking most of her shots.

Using his own body strength Gellis kicked Lara off of him and quickly got to his feet. They duelled both throwing punches for the other, equal in strength and speed. Both of them successfully landed a few hits on the other. Lara was bleeding from her lip and eyebrow while Gellis' eye had already started swelling and his nose was bleeding. As they fought Gellis seized an opportunity to grab a metal bar in an attempt to sway things his way. He imediately began to swing it at Lara hoping to make contact with her head.

The purple laser was still active. With the real Controller in place the two artefacts began to glow a bright, vibrant orange colour. It was so bright it was blinding anyone close to it. They began to move out of their holds slowly but surely moving closer to each other.

Time was running out. Gellis used the blinding light to his advantage. He swung the metal bar with all of his strength at Lara catching her in the ribs with a horrid crunch. She felt one or two of her ribs crack and instantly start impeding her breathing.

As she was winded Gellis tipped her up sending to the floor knocking even more wind out of her. Fortunately she managed to kick him the stomach but he landed a hefty blow with the pipe to her head. She rolled away before he could do more damage.

With Lara getting to her feet dazed Gellis stole the chance to head to the artefacts. The two pieces had now become one and were emitting a soft soothing hum, like a lullaby. Gellis locked his hand around the amber stone. His body began to shake and convulse, his eyes rolling around in their sockets, his skin growing pale yet looking like a cracked rock.

Lara looked on in shook as he convulsed even more. She looked around for anything that could help her, not wanting to touch him. At the other end of the platform was a pistol. Lara prayed that it had at least one bullet in it. She sprinted and rolled for the gun, turning when she had it. She aimed directly for his head and fired. Gellis' head rolled back, his eyes looking at the tip of his nose before rolling into the back of his head. His hand slid off of the orange stone and he fell to the floor lifelessly.

Amidst the fight Steve noticed that Lara wasn't fighting amongst them. He nervously looked around to find her examining a computer getting frustrated. Seeing that agents were advancing on her Steve rushed to her aid. As he fought he felt his strength being sapped from him. He punches became weaker and he was barely standing.

People all around the room began to randomly collapse to the floor, their heart no longer beating, even when they had not been hit by any thing. Even the Hulk's strength was starting to waver.

Lara glanced up to see Steve staring at her, desperate to get to her. She breathed in deep, feeling a sharp pain in her ribs as she did, before staggering to the stone. Steve's faced dropped as it clicked what Lara was planning. She was holding onto her left hand side as she stood staring at the stone. Taking another deep breath, Lara grasped the glowing stone pulling with all of the strength that she still had left.

The stone began to glow brighter, whip like orange lights flowing off of it. The more she pulled the brighter it got like it was growing more desperate. Slowly it moved but that only allowed the laser to continue it's path, straight onto Lara's hand. She began to groan as the violet laser was burning into her hand.

More and more people fell as their life was drained from them. Only a few agents remained standing, either trying to escape or still trying to fight out of some dumb loyalty to Hydra. Tony was up and about again aiming his pulsars but missing as his armour did nothing top protect him from the lullaby.

"_Lara!"_ shouted Steve desperately, staggering his way to her and using his shield to hold him up.

The pain was starting to get too much for her but she new she needed to stop this, whatever this was. Her blood chilling screams that filled the air were only made worse by the echo. She was determined. She brought them into this fight and she would save them. Her scream changed from one of pain to one of persistence. With a sudden serge of adrenaline Lara pulled and pulled, feeling that she was almost there. With a pop the stone was released from it's hold sending Lara tumbling to the floor with it still locked in her hand.

As soon as it was out, energy returned to those who were still standing. Those who fell remained on the ground. With the new serge of energy Steve rushed to Lara's side, the others keeping him covered, and scooped her into his arms as he knelt beside her. With one hand he gently stroked her face whispering her name. Lara glanced at him before passing out, the stone still in her hand which was red raw.

"_Lara's down."_ he informed, his voice shaky.

"_I'll get her out of here."_ responded Tony, using his central ark to clear a path to them.

He imediately abandoned his fight to join Steve. Lara was as white was a sheet apart from her left hand and arm. Her hand was burnt and red. Her arm, however, was different. She had orange vein like marks weaving their way up her arm, stopping just above her elbow.

Steve passed Lara to Tony who, as soon as he was sure he had a firm grip on her, took flight heading out to safety. Steve gulped and headed back into the fray beside Natasha and Coulson using his worry and angry as a weapon.

"_The cavalries on it's way."_ told Coulson firing on agent who was determined to go out fighting.

Steve wasn't really listening. Natasha glanced at Steve as she roundhoused an guy in the head. They continued fighting until the cavalry, that being May, the Bus as well as the newly formed S.H.I.E.L.D lead by Maria Hill, arrived to lend a hand.

With the extra manpower the remaining Hydra agents were either arrested or killed due to their uncooperative natures. Coulson lead the remaining Avengers to the bus promising to take them directly to Lara. He got no arguments from anyone. Over the few weeks that they had known Lara they had quickly built some kind of bond with her whether that was a respectful one, like Thor, Bruce and Clint had or a more playful sibling type bond like Natasha and Tony had. It was plain to see that Steve's bond was so much more.


	26. Chapter 26

**The Stone.**

Lara was laid out in bed unconscious for the following few days. They had bandaged her hand and were monitoring her closely looking for anything strange. Steve barely left her side and if he did he was only replaced by Natasha. The stone had been prized out of her hand and place in a lead lined metal box. That box was sat upon the hologram table where Tony and Bruce were stood staring at it.

No matter what they tried they couldn't definitively figure out what the hell it was. All they knew is that it had a similar energy reading to the Tesseract. They were waiting on Thor to return with, possibly, more information. He had gone back to Asguard to ask his father, the Allfather, about a theory that he did have and hadn't yet returned.

The two scientists would open their mouths to talk but found nothing to stay. They had nothing really. When they had left the compound Natasha had told Hill to look for any data on the computers that could help them. But they found nothing. All of the servers and computers had been wiped remotely. Even the data extracted from the book was lost.

Tony and Bruce stood there in silence for about five minutes before the door behind them opened. The two men turned to see Thor striding towards them, hopefully with some answers.

"_Do you remember our conversations about the infinity stones Tony?"_ asked standing beside them.

Tony nodded at him wondering where he was going with it.

"_If I'm not to be mistaken this gem is the Soul Gem."_ he explained.

"_And what does this one do?"_

"_This has the ability to observe or steal a soul or spirit. Or if someone is not themselves it can return them to normal."_ Thor continued.

Both Bruce and Tony stared at it in awe. Their minds were trying to find a logical explanation for it but were coming up with nothing. After a brief moment of silence Thor spoke again.

"_Lara must have had great strength in order to repel it." _he smiled respectfully.

"_So what was it doing to us? How come people were dropping like flies?"_ questioned Bruce trying to get some understanding.

Thor looked solemnly at the floor before answering him. _"It was taking their souls in order to form fully. The artefacts were only fragments and needed energy to form."_

As silence filled the air again, Natasha entered heading straight for the kitchen. She looked tired and worn. Her red hair wasn't as sleek as it usually was and she was slightly hunched over from being sat in one seat for a long period of time. The three men looked over to her the same thought filling their minds.

"_I take it she still isn't wake then?"_ asked Bruce softly.

Pulling out a bowl and filling in with cereal, Natasha sat at the counter and shook her head, yawning as she did so.

"_No. Steve refuses to leave her side until she does wake up," _she smiled fondly, _"He's currently asleep in a chair next to her, holding her hand."_

At that Tony's face lit up. Something else to tease Steve about.

"_Don't bother Tony."_ she fiercely warned, glaring at him as she got cereal onto her spoon.

"_Who says I was going to do anything?"_

"_Your face." _they all chimed.

"_In truth I'm happy for him. About time he got back into the real world."_ stated Tony proudly before turning his attention back to the gem. _"What do you plan to do with the stone Thor?"_

Thor stood in thought for a moment, turning his gaze back to the stone.

"_If she can withstand it, and she's willing, Lara can protect it. She's already proven her skills."_

In Lara's room Steve was indeed sat in a chair sound asleep. Lara was laid straight in her bed, her long chocolate hair resting to her side. Her breathing was steady. Just as Natasha had said Steve's hand was entwined with Lara's. As Lara was resting peacefully Steve's eyes were moving rapidly behind his eyelids, his mouth slightly open.

She twitched. At first it was her eyebrow. Then it was her hand. The hand locked with Steve's. It twitched again and even though it was only a small amount it was enough to wake the Captain.

He looked down at his hand in disbelief glancing up at Lara's face hoping for another twitch. He sat forward in his chair, his heart pounding, blinking the sleep away as fast as he could.

"_Lara?"_ he whispered incase he had just imagined it.

Her head moved to the side making a small smile appear on Steve's face. As she moved she mumbled his name, her brows furrowing slightly.

"_Lara. It's okay, I'm here."_ his grip had tightened on her hand, the smile growing wider and relief settling in his heart.

Her eyes slowly fluttered open, adjusting to the light around them. She licked her dry lips before turning to see Steve's beaming face. Upon seeing his smile she instantly smiled back. She blinked a few more time trying to get rid of the sleepiness. She saw that his face was tired, his eyes had bags underneath them, and that he looked just as achey as she felt.

"_You haven't left my side have you?"_ she mumbled in both thanks and exasperation.

Steve avoided her gaze and rubbed the back of his neck, the happy smile turning into an awkward one. She placed both her hands flat on the bed trying to push herself up. She didn't have strength to do it. After seeing her struggle Steve lent over the bed so he could help her sit up. Lara put her arms on his shoulders and he gently grabbed her waist, sitting her up straight. Before he could return to his seat Lara took the opportunity to kiss him on his cheek. He looked back at her shocked.

"_Thank you for coming to get me Steve."_

"_I think it's what you would have done."_ he said blushing heavily as he sat back down.

Lara reached back over to take his hand which only made him blush more. She had gotten used to feeling his hand in hers. They simply stared at each other for a moment only this time it wasn't awkward.

There was movement outside the door. Steve quickly tried to move his hand away but Lara wouldn't let him. The door opened and in walked Thor followed by Natasha and Tony. Tony imediately plonked him self on the bottom of the bed, making himself comfortable and the bed dip slightly under his weight.

"_About time you woke up lazy bones."_ he jested gently slapping her legs.

Lara laughed and imediately regretted it. Her ribs still hurt. It turned out that she did have two broken ribs.

"_It's good to have you back."_ chimed in Natasha, giving her a warm smile as she lent against the back of Steve's chair.

Lara asked what happened to everyone after she passed out. They gave her the brief overview telling her that Coulson had called in some help to round up the rest of the Hydra agents. They also told her what the stone was doing to everyone and what it had tried to do to her. She just sat there and listened carefully. In all of her life Lara had never come so close to certain death. Sure she had fallen from great heights, she had been shot even stabbed but she had never almost had her soul stolen from her.

"_When you are feeling better I would like to talk to you about the stone Lara."_

Lara nodded as she felt a twinge in her stomach. She licked her lips again.

"_Am I allowed to eat because I am starving?" _she asked with a hopeful look in her eyes.

They all laughed shaking their heads, Thor clapping Steve on his back. Steve's thumb rubbed the back of Lara's hand as he rose.

"_I'll go make you something."_ he said smiling as he rose to his feet.

He left closely followed by Tony and Thor. Tony left because he, no doubt, wanted to question him about Lara while Thor followed because of the thought of food. Natasha was the only one who remained. She sat down in the vacated chair and stared at Lara with her arms folded and one eye brow raised along with a half smirk. Lara knew what was coming but before she could say anything Natasha but it.

"_He's already told me."_

Lara's face dropped and turned a lovely shade of red. She giggled like a teenage girl shaking her head.

"_Okay you were right."_


	27. Chapter 27

**Date Night.**

Lara took things easy for the following weeks knowing full well if she didn't Steve would only worry then make her rest. She spent most of her time either with Natasha or Steve, both of them keeping a close eye on her. Even though she was restricted with what they would allow her to do, she had the best time she had had in a long while. She felt comfortable, at ease and Lara felt she had Steve to thank for that. If he hadn't talked to her about Alistair she figured that she would still be stuck in her numb state not really knowing what to do.

Hunter, Bobbi, Skye and Coulson had returned to the Bus having being called back to another mission. Lara made sure that she thanked all of them for their help offering her assistance in the future if they needed it. Normally the air between Lara and Bobbi was tense, both ready to snap at the other like two omegas fighting over the alpha. But that was no longer the case. The two went their separate ways with a new found respect for each other.

While Lara was still healing Tony had already begun to rebuild her home along with the help of S.H.I.E.L.D. He promised her that her house would have better defences as well as Friday monitoring it. While she wasn't overly fond of the thought of an AI watching her every move, she appreciated the thought.

The sun was beginning to set bathing New York in a golden glow as Lara stood in front of her mirror staring at reflection nervously. Natasha was sat on the bed with her shoes off and legs crossed, a wide smirk on her face. While Natasha was wearing her favourite lounging shirt and trousers, Lara was in a dress. It was a smooth, curve hugging, black dress that had had one strap on her left shoulder and pushed up her breasts slightly.

"_Lara you could show up in patchwork trousers and a really dirty shirt and Steve would still like you. So stop worrying."_

Lara looked unsurely at her reflection, turning slightly before mumbling quietly. _"I just want to look nice for him."_

Natasha rose from the bed and marched over to Lara grabbing her shoulders and forcing Lara to look at her. Lara tried to fuss over the dress again but Natasha batted her hands down.

"_Stop fussing over nothing. You look great."_ insisted Natasha.

Lara nodded at her, trying to convince herself that it would be fine. She took a deep breath before forcing herself to turn away from the mirror and look directly at Natasha.

"_Ok I'm just going to head out there."_ Lara stood straight, taking another deep breath.

She slipped on her matt black heels and checked once again that she had everything she needed. As she headed for the door she saw that Natasha was already stood there looking like a proud parent.

"_Here's hoping Tony isn't out there."_ Lara wished.

"_Oh you know he will be. He wouldn't miss this for the world."_

They smiled at each other as Natasha opened the door letting Lara leave first, closing the door behind her as she left. As Lara entered the living room she saw that Steve was already there and waiting for her. She felt a pang of guilt as she wondered how long he had been waiting. He was stood behind the sofas looking extremely nervous, with his hands in his pockets and subconsciously tapping his foot.

At the sound of footsteps Steve turned to face Lara and his jaw instantly dropped. She looked magnificent as her long brown hair cascaded over her right shoulder. He was stuck for words. The others, however, weren't. Tony, Bruce and Clint were all sat at the counters in the kitchen staring at Lara. A loud wolf whistle filled the air.

"_Damn Lara."_ called Tony, looking the archeologist up and down giving her his most flirtatious smile.

Lara gave him a thin eyed looked as well as a half smile. That was precisely what she expected from him. Bruce just gave Lara a polite nod before glancing at Natasha then looking back at his plate of food. Natasha didn't notice but Lara did, her eyebrow raising in intrigue.

"_You look lovely Lara."_ praised Clint raising his glass to her. She gave him a nervous yet thankful curtsy.

Lara turned her attention back to Steve who was still staring with his mouth open.

"_You're catching flies Rogers."_ said Tony, shaking Steve out of his own world.

Steve coughed lightly before standing beside Lara taking his hands out of his pockets.

"_Are you, are you ready to go?"_ he asked clearly as nervous as she was.

Before responding Lara turned back to Natasha who looked at her confused as did Steve.

"_We're having a chat when I get back."_ she whispered so that only Natasha could hear.

Natasha was still stood there confused as Lara turned back to Steve and nodded. He smiled widely, offering her his arm which she took. They walked to the elevator in silence feeling everyone's eyes on their backs. Tony couldn't resist but to get one more joke in before they left. As the elevator door closed he called to them. "_Don't be back too late you young whipper snappers."_

Both Steve and Lara laughed, rolling their eyes. The only difference being that Steve had blushed. The door shut leaving them alone. Steve couldn't control the smile on his face as he turned to look Lara directly into the enchanting brown eyes.

"_They are right you know. You look... stunning."_ he told her affectionately moving his arm so he could take her hand into his.

Now it was Lara's turn to smile uncontrollably. She held on tighter to his hand, lacing her fingers with his.

"_Thank you Steve. You look incredibly dashing." _He gave a soft chuckle while rubbing the back of his neck, _"And it's adorable when you do that."_

At half past nine Steve and Lara returned to the Tower with huge grins on their faces and their hands in each others. They stood shoulder to shoulder as the elevator rose up to the living room.

The doors slid open and the two people stepped out. There was no one else up which went against what both Steve and Lara had expected. They had both had at least expected Tony to still be up. Steve and Lara shared disbelieving looks before scanning the living room. They didn't put it past Tony to hide somewhere. When they didn't find any sign of the playboy they turned to face each other.

Lara looked up into Steve's crystal blue eyes, smiling through the side of her mouth. She took both of his hands in hers and stepped closer to him.

"_I had a great time Steve."_

Steve chuckled. _"Even after those people bombarded our table."_

Lara giggled and held his hand tighter. _"Yes because you handled it really well."_

She took another step closer to him, rising to her tip toes and kissed Steve passionately. As she pulled away slowly Steve held her on her lower back and pulled her back to him kissing her again. They pulled apart again but remained inches away from each other. Lara giggled again.

"_We should do this again sometime."_

"_Yeah we should."_

Lara laughed yet again but this time at the sight of Steve. After their kiss some of her lipstick had remained on Steve's lips. She headed over to the coffee table between the sofas to pick up a tissue from the box. Steve looked at her confused as she returned to gently rub off the lipstick.

"_Thanks."_

After one more kiss, Lara wiping the rest of her lipstick off afterward, they bade each other good night. Lara headed to her room leaving Steve stood in the living room watching her walk away with an affectionate smile. When Lara disappeared into her room Steve heard a rustle from behind the kitchen counters. Tony bounced up with a mischievous grin on his face.

"_Eww. I saw mommy kissing daddy."_ Steve folded his armed and sighed. _"I take it it went well then."_

Steve smiled widely to himself, glancing towards Lara's room, before ignoring Tony's questions and heading to his own. Tony was quick on his heels wanting to know all the details like a puppy following it's owner when it thinks they have a treat.

Lara opened her bedroom door to find Natasha, in her pyjamas, laying on Lara's bed reading a book. Lara kicked off her shoes as Natasha closed her book setting it on the bedside table. But before the Russian spy could utter one word Lara beat her to the punch.

"_What's with you and Dr Banner?"_ She folded her arms and resting mainly on her right leg, her eyebrow raised.

The question had caught Natasha off guard and she sat there staring, open mouthed at Lara. By the look on Natasha's face Lara knew instantly that she was going to try brush it off.

"_I'm not going to tell you about the date until you tell me about you and Bruce."_

Lara's voice was firm as was her gaze. Natasha sighed and laid back down on the bed making herself comfy.

"_Deal."_

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**Hey, there is only one more chapter after this one. I really hope you all enjoyed this story and would really love to hear what you guys think.**


	28. Chapter 28

**Rebuilt, Rejuvenated.**

In total Lara stayed in Stark Tower, now officially dubbed the Avenger Tower, for 2 months. It was partially due to the others wanting to make sure she healed properly and that her house was still being built. The manor didn't take that long to be rebuilt, not when it had the funding from both S.H.I.E.L.D and Tony Stark. Tony had made sure to work on the security himself and insisted that she let him visit her every so often, perhaps bringing Pepper along as well.

When she first stepped inside she honestly couldn't tell the difference from the way it was before. Apparently, according to Maria Hill, Tony had persisted that they built it like it was when she was young but with obvious improvements in certain areas, much to the pleasure of Winston who had returned at the same time as Lara. She just stood in the middle of the main hall, one of her bags in her hand and another in Steve's who was a few feet behind her, staring at the walls. The work was seamless. You would have never had known that the majority of the ceiling and wall were once scattered along the floor.

There was one thing blindingly different though. The Tech room. Tony had vastly updated it, installing a hologram table as well as several high tech computers and touch screens. Tony lent against the hologram table with the biggest grin ever on his face while Lara had slowly wandered around looking dumbstruck yet thankful, Steve chuckling to himself. When she examined the tech room she realised what he had done. Tony had deliberately gave her such hight tech equipment knowing that she would need some help with it, thus ensuring that he would end up visiting her.

Before actually moving out of the tower Natasha and the others all promised to try find some time to pop by the manor or demanded that she visited them or at least kept in contact. Clint had even asked her if he could bring his children to met her. According to him his son was a fan of the archeologist. Lara quickly accepted telling him that she loved children, the innocence of youth.

She had only been back in the Manor for a week when Coulson had contacted her taking her up on her offer of help. She had done a few missions alongside Skye and Bobbi and even one with the formidable Melinda May. Now that was one person that Lara was intimidated by from the stories that Hunter and Skye had told her. She was one fierce fighter and even more stoic than Natasha. But once they had gotten over that initial introduction they got on like a house on fire.

If she had free time at the same time as Steve they made sure they took it to go on more dates. Not one of them failed. It just seemed so easy for them to talk to one another. Steve had even told her about Peggy and his search for Bucky which Lara offered her help for. She told him she had friends in many countries that could let him now if the Winter Soldier was spotted. Lara had even persuaded him to let her buy an apartment in Brooklyn for him. It had taken a lot of persuading but he had agreed as long as she bought a small apartment and let him pay her back. She had no intention of taking any money from him, not after him helping her with Hydra.

At the current moment in time Steve and Lara had managed to get some free time. Instead of going out they decided to try catch Steve up on more modern culture, i.e. movies. They were sat on the very soft beige sofa watching The Lord of the Rings on the largest Tv Lara had seen, the Tv clearly coming from Tony and not S.H.I.E.L.D. Lara was leaning against Steve in comfortable bottoms and a tank top, her legs resting to the side. Steve had his arm around Lara's shoulder looking confused at the film. Lara was attempting to explain why the Dwarves and Elves didn't get on.

"_I have all of the books, even The Hobbit, if you want to borrow them Steve." _informed Lara, smiling at Steve's confusion.

He turned to face her even more confused. _"I thought your books were destroyed."_

Lara looked down briefly and laughed.

"_Another thing I owe Tony for."_

Steve joined in her laughter and pulled her closer to him. She rested her head on his chest placing her hand there as well. They watched the film in silence just enjoying each others company. Steve awkwardly cleared his throat making Lara turn her head and look at him.

"_Is the, is the gem safe?"_ asked Steve seemingly out of nowhere.

Lara raised an eyebrow, confused but put it down to Steve's caring nature.

"_Yes it is. We cleared everyone out while Tony showed me where he put it. So only Tony and I know where abouts it is."_

"_Oh."_ said Steve looking back at the Tv, hurt.

Lara sat up further feeling bad due to the look on Steve's face. She smiled slightly before leaning over and kissing him lightly.

"_Would it make you feel better to see it Steve?"_ she asked not wanting him to worry about her while he was out on missions.

A slight redness grew in his cheeks as he felt like a fool. He knew that she could handle herself but he needed to see. He gave her a small nod after a short pause. Lara rose form the sofa, Steve following her, and headed over to her closet. She pushed right into the back feeling the side for something. She mouthed numbers to herself, that Steve didn't see, as she felt the keypad hidden in the back. The back wall of the closet slide back and moved left revealing a small room behind.

It was a dark grey room and in the middle was a thick see-through container. Inside sat the orange, softly glowing, gem. Steve sighed and put his hands in his pocket felling a little bit better. Lara saw him relax and put her hands on his chest again drawing his attention.

"_Feel better now?"_ Steve nodded as he looked deep into her eyes, _"Tony assures me that it's being monitored at all time."_

They smiled at each other, Lara happy that that hurt look was now gone. Before she could actually go back to the sofa Steve pulled her back to him catching her off guard. He kissed her passionately, his hands gripping tightly on her lower back.

"_I just wanted to make sure your safe."_

"_I know."_ she lightly kissed him, turning back to the sofa.

Steve returned to his position on the sofa but before Lara could return to hers Steve again pulled her to him making her sit side saddle on his lap. For the second time that day Lara was taken back and off guard. This was odd for Steve. That niggling feeling she had was soon washed away by that wonderful smile of Steve's. This time she initiated the kiss but she only aimed for a quick peck. As she went to pull away and sit at his side Steve gently held her head and deepened the kiss. Unable to resist Lara quickly gave in. Within moments the kiss had escalated. The kiss became more and more intense causing Steve to pick Lara up , Lara imediately locking her legs around his waist as he carried her towards the bed.

The sun had now set and the moon was hiding behind the dark grey clouds that floated in the Buckinghamshire skyline. Lara Croft's bedroom was warm and dimly lit. In the dim light there were clothes scattered along the fluffy milk chocolate carpet leading from the sofa to the king size bed. The bed itself had two people inside, one laid on the other. Lara's head was on top of Steve's bare chest as she slept soundly. Steve had his arm around her, his fingers gently drawing circle on her back. He had a devilish smirk on his face as he stared into nothing.

Steve pulled the bed sheets up covering Lara's exposed back before sliding out from beneath her. She frowned slightly but remained asleep, curling up a little. Steve gathered his clothes and put them back on still with that unnatural smirk etched onto his face. When fully clothed Steve stood straight and glanced over his shoulder to Lara, the smirk only growing.

As he walked away from the bed a strange golden glow swirled around him. Beneath he changed from the white shirt and cargo trousers to a magnificent black and green ensemble. The hair that was formally blonde grew and turned black, stopping just beneath his shoulders.

The Norse God of Mischief stopped just in front of Lara's closet and turned fully face her.

"_Thank you Miss Croft."_

Loki turned his attention back to the closet and followed precisely what he had seen Lara do earlier that day. He was now inches from one of the six infinity stones, inches from perhaps saving himself. He used his magic to brake into the container without leaving any evidence behind. With the stone in his hand he turned back into the bedroom closing the hidden room behind him. He ran his thumb over the gem while letting his eyes run over Lara's body again, remembering the evening before. His smiled fondly and proudly.

"_Thank you very much indeed."_

And with that he left the Manor leaving the blissfully unaware Lara asleep in her bed.

* * *

**Well that's it, the end. I'm kind of sad but am already planning other stuff so if you like ****this please keep a eye out for more marvel stuff ;) Muhahahaha I have plans dear friend. Anyway yet again thank you for reading and I would love to hear what you thought. Don't get into to much trouble you young… trouble maker you xD**


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